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MEMOIR 


WILLIAM   WILBERFORCE. 


BY  THOMAS  PRICE. 


Scconlr  ^mcrfcan  Htrftfon. 


APPENDIX. 


BOSTON : 

LIGHT   &   STEARNS,  1   CORNHILL. 
1836. 


Entered  arc orJing  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1836,  by 
Light  &  Stearns,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District 
Court  of  iMassachusetts. 


PREFACE 

TO    THE    AMERICAN    EDITION. 


The  followino;  Memoir  of  one  of  the  most  interesting 
personages  who  have  lived  during  the  current  century, 
first  published  a  few  months  since  in  London,  is  pre- 
sented by  the  Publishers  to  the  American  community. 
Eminently  conspicuous  among  this  class,  for  half  a  cen- 
tury, stood  the  subject  of  Mr.  Price's  Biography — a 
man,  whose  memory  will  be  sufficiently  distinguished  in 
all  coming  time,  by  the  extraordinary  combination  of 
intellectual  and  moral  power  which  he  directed,  and 
caused  to  be  directed — and  that  with  both  a  spirit  and  a 
success  unsurpassed,  on  the  whole,  in  the  world's 
annals — to  the  promotion  "  of  the  greatest  act  of  national 
benefit  ichich  God  ever  put  in  the  power  of  man  to  confer 
on  his  felloiD  creatures.''^  Such  was  the  language  used 
by  Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  in  the  British  Parliament,  on 
occasion  of  the  final  passage,  by  that  body,  of  the  Bill  for 
abolisliing  the  African  slave-trade  throughout  the  British 
dominions ;  and  whoever  will  attentively  weigh  the  vast 
interest  and  importance  of  the  great  events,  now  alluded 


IT  PREFACE, 

to,  in  which  Mr.  Wilberforce  acted  a  part  which  has  ren- 
dered his  name  immortal,  cannot  for  a  moment  hesitate 
to  admit  that  the  eloquence  of  this  noble  eulogy  is  but 
adequate  to  its  truth. 

It  is  proper  for  the  Publishers  to  state  that  they  have 
omitted,  in  the  republication  of  this  excellent  tribute  to 
the  worth  of  the  departed  philanthropist,  those  portions 
of  the  Memoir  that,  while  they  contributed  to  swell  the 
volume  beyond  the  size  best  adapted  to  the  design  of 
popular  circulation,  were  likely,  also,  by  their  seclarian 
and  controversial  character,  to  prove  of  considerably  less 
value,  than  the  more  strictly  biographical  department  of 
the  work.  It  may  be  read,  in  its  present  form,  as  the 
Publishers  confidently  believe — though  they  would  not 
be  understood  to  assert  their  own  precise  accordance 
with  every  particular  sentiment  expressed  by  the  Bi- 
ographer— with  equal  pleasure  and  profit,  by  persons  of 
every  sect,  party,  and  condition. 


MEMOIR 


WILLIAM  WILBERFORCE. 


The  doctrine  of  Divine  Providence  is  strik- 
ingly illustrated  in  the  history  of  our  world. 
Amidst  the  apparent  confusion  of  its  affairs,  the 
controlling  agency  of  infinite  wisdom  and  good- 
ness may  be  traced.  There  has  been  an  evident 
subordination  in  the  course  of  events  to  some 
great  issue.  Complicated  and  intricate  move- 
ments, which  at  first  perplexed  the  most  saga- 
cious observers,  have  ultimately  been  seen  to 
lend  their  influence  to  the  advancement  of  human 
happiness.  Tiie  temporary  triumph  of  infidelity 
has  thus  been  checked,  and  the  faith  and  hope 
of  the  believer  have  been  increasingly  justified. 
Hence  much  of  the  value  which  attaches  to  the 
records  of  the  past.  History  would  lose  its  im- 
portance, were  it  to  be  regarded  as  a  chronicle 
1  * 


6  MEMOIR    OP 

merely  of  events.  Its  details  might  exercise  the 
memory,  and  afford  pleasure  to  the  curious,  but 
a  mind  intent  on  the  acquisition  of  moral  truth 
would  cease  to  regard  its  pages  with  interest, 
or  to  derive  from  them  the  materials  of  its  most 
ennobling  speculations. 

The  superintendence  of  the  Deity  has  been 
evinced  in  the  preparation  of  agents  for  the  exe- 
cution of  his  purposes.  At  different  periods  in 
the  history  of  mankind,  he  has  raised  up,  and 
qualified  with  all  appropriate  endowments,  the 
ministers  of  his  pleasure.  They  have  been 
brought  forward  at  the  precise  moment  when 
their  services  were  needed,  and  a  stage  has  been 
prepared  on  which  they  might  efliciently  act 
their  part.  Outward  circumstances  have  been 
so  adapted  to  their  mental  constitution,  as  to 
assist  them  in  extending  a  salutary  influence 
over  the  men  of  their  day.  God  has  worked 
with  them,  confirming  their  word  with  signs 
following. 

There  is  no  important  era  in  the  history  of 
mankind  which  does  not  afford  illustrations  of 
this  fact.  Luther  was  formed  by  divine  Provi- 
dence for  the  work  which  he  accomplished. 
"Whitfield  and  Wesley  were  eminently  endowed 
by  the  Head  of  the  church,  for  the  revival  of 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  7 

religion  in  their  native  land;  and  many  of  those 
who,  in  more  recent  times,  have  gone  to  the  land 
of  heathenism,  proclaimirag  the  unsearchable 
riclies  of  Christ,  have  manifested  an  adaptation 
to  their  work,  in  which  the  devout  observer  can- 
not fail  to  recognize  the  hand  of  God.  A  similar 
observation  may  be  made  respecting  the  subject 
of  this  brief  memoir.  There  was  a  great  work, 
involving  the  interests  of  humanity  and  religion, 
to  be  accomplished  ;  and  in  the  person  of  Mr. 
Wilherforce,  God  furnished  an  agent  eminently 
fitted  for  its  execution.  His  integrity  commanded 
the  respect  of  all  parties  ;  his  talents  engaged 
their  attention,  and  his  inflexible  determination 
of  purpose  won  the  triumph  of  his  cause.  Had 
not  Mr.  Wilherforce  been  a  member  of  the  Brit- 
ish parliament  when  the  philanthropic  Clarkson 
was  endeavoring  to  stimulate  the  national  con- 
science, it  is  not,  perhaps,  tno  much  to  say, 
that  the  wrongs  of  Africa  would  have  been  unre- 
dressed to  this  day.  Other  senators  may  have 
raised  their  voice,  but  the  heart  of  the  nation 
would  not  have  responded  as  it  did  to  the  appeal 
of  the  patriarch  of  the  cause.  "  To  the  talent, 
the  sagacity,  the  discretion,  the  unwearied  perse- 
verance, the  mild  and  conciliatory,  though  deter- 
mined tone,  the  unexceptionable  spirit,  and  the 


C  MEMOIR    OF 

winning,  irresistible  eloquence  with  which  he 
conducted  this  great  cause,  as  long  as  health 
and  strength  permitted  him  thus  to  lead  in  it,  is, 
no  doubt,  under  God's  blessing,  mainly  to  be 
attributed  the  triumphant  issue  to  which,  after  a 
contest  of  forty-three  years,  the  whole  is  now 
brought." 

The  ancestors  of  Mr.  Wilberforce  were  for 
many  years  successfully  engaged  in  trade  at 
Hull.  His  great-great-grandfather  was  a  Mr. 
William  Wilberforce,  who  was  one  of  the  gover- 
nors of  Beverly  in  the  year  1070.  The  grandson 
of  this  gentleman  married  Sarah,  the  daughter 
of  Mr.  John  Thornton,  about  the  year  1711; 
and  hence,  we  believe,  originated  that  intimate 
connection  with  the  Thornton  family,  which 
continued  to  the  end  of  Mr.  Wilberforce's  life. 
There  were  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  the 
issue  of  this  marriage.  William,  the  eldest  son, 
died  without  issue  in  the  year  1780.  Robert, 
the  younger,  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Bird — the 
aunt,  as  we  believe,  of  the  present  Bishops  of 
Winchester  and  Ciiester.  The  late  Mr.  Wilber- 
force was  the  only  son  of  Mr.  Robert  Wilber- 
force. There  were  two  daughters,  Elizabeth  and 
Sarah:  the  former  died  unmarried;  the  latter 
was  twice  married,  first  to  the  Rev. Clarke, 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  9 

and   then  to   Mr.  Stephen,  the   late   master  in 
Chancery. 

Mr.  Wilberforce  was  born  at  Hull,  on  the 
24th  of  August,  1759,  in  a  house  in  High  Street, 
and  was  baptized  in  Trinity  church,  of  that  town, 
in  the  following  month.  His  early  education 
was  received  at  the  grammar  school  in  Hull, 
then  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Milner,  whose  preaching  appears  to  have 
made  a  deep  impression  on  his  youthful  mind. 
What  may  have  been  the  amount  of  this  impres- 
sion, it  is  impossible  now  to  determine.  But 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  the 
commencement  of  that  christian  character  which 
subsequently  appeared  in  so  mature  and  lovely  a 
form.  In  itself  it  was  incomplete  ;  but  it  con- 
tained the  germ  and  promise  of  future  good. 
The  integrity  and  strength  of  this  early  impres- 
sion was  severely  tried  in  after  life ;  but,  though 
exhibiting  considerable  variations,  and  sometimes 
reduced,  apparently,  to  the  last  degree  of  weak- 
ness, it  was  never  permitted  to  fade  away.  At 
the  age  of  twelve,  he  was  removed  to  a  school  in 
the  neighborhood  of  London,  where  he  resided 
with  a  pious  uncle  and  aunt,  by  the  latter  of 
whom  he  was  introduced  to  the  venerable  John 
Newton.     There  must  have  been  something  in 


10  MEMOIR    OF 

his  appearance  or  manners  very  striking,  even  at 
this  early  age  ;  for  Mr.  Scott  informs  us  that 
when,  nearly  fifteen  years  after,  altered  views 
and  revived  religious  impressions  led  him  (Mr. 
Wilberforce)  again  to  seek  the  acquaintance  of 
that  excellent  man,  Mr.  Newton  surprised  and 
affected  him  much,  by  telling  him  that,  from  the 
time  of  the  early  introduction  just  alluded  to, 
he  had  not  failed  constantly  to  pray  for  him. 
His  residence  near  London  was  but  temporary. 
In  17T2,  he  was  at  a  grammar  school  at  Pock- 
lington,  Yorkshire,  under  the  care  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Baskett.  Here  he  continued  till  his  removal 
to  Cambridge,  which  took  place  in  1776  or 
1777. 

Many  serious  apprehensions  were  entertained 
by  his  friends,  on  account  of  the  delicate  state  of 
his  health.  They  feared  that  his  frame  was  too 
feeble  to  endure  long  ;  more  especially,  amidst 
the  activity  and  excitement  of  a  public  life.  In 
the  year  1788,  Dr.  Warren,  the  most  eminent 
physician  of  his  day,  declared  "  he  had  not 
stamina  enough  to  last  a  fortnight."  But  the 
good  pleasure  of  his  God  had  ordered  otherwi.se. 
There  was  work  for  him  to  do  ;  and  his  bodily 
strength  was,  in  consequence,  daily  renewed. 
The  "puny  boy,"  as  Mr.  Scott  designates  him 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  11 

in  his  funeral  sermon,  survived  to  a  good  old 
age,  and  at  length  retired  to  rest  amid  the  plau- 
dits of  an  admiring  world.  He  suffered  much 
through  life  from  his  attendance  in  parliament, 
yet  he  continued  it  from  a  sense  of  duty.  One 
who  knew  him  well  tells  us  that  kw  members 
attended  with  more  assiduity  in  their  places  in 
parliament.  Though  his  frame  was  always  weak, 
and  his  health  indifferent,  he  rarely  absented 
himself  from  public  duty  :  he  had,  indeed,  a 
higher  motive  to  its  discliarge  than  most  men. 
Though  singularly  destitute  of  self-importance, 
he  was  sensible  that  he  had  gradually  risen  to  a 
peculiar  responsibility,  which  there  were  few,  if 
any,  to  share  with  him.  He  was  regarded,  by 
the  religious  world,  as  the  protector,  in  the  lower 
house,  of  public  morals  and  religious  rights. 
He  was  justly  conscious  that  this  was  the  highest 
trust  confided  to  his  care,  and  he  was  vigilant  in 
proportion.  He  was  never  to  be  found  sleeping 
when  any  question  trenching  on  public  decorum, 
or  the  interests  of  religion,  came  before  the  legis- 
lature. We  believe  that  this  high  motive  im- 
pelled him  to  a  more  frequent  attendance  than 
consisted  with  his  physical  strength.  In  his 
later  years,  he  often  availed  himself  of  the  too 
frequent  opportunity  given  by  a  heavy  speaker. 


12  MEMOIR    OF 

to  indulge  himself  with  an  hour's  sleop  in  the 
back  seats  under  the  galleries;  and  this  indul- 
gence was  cheerfully  and  respectfully  conceded 
by  the  House.  To  have  disturbed  the  slumber 
of  Mr.  Wilberforce  would  have  been,  with  one 
consent,  scouted  as  a  breach  of  privilege,  for 
which  no  ordinary  apology  could  have  atoned. 

We  have  already  seen  that  he  was  the  subject 
of  religious  impressions  in  very  early  life  ;  and 
the  character  which  resulted  from  them,  though 
subject  to  some  variations,  assumed  more  and 
more  of  the  fixedness  and  determination  of  chris- 
tian principle.  We  shall  have  occasion,  in  the 
course  of  our  narrative,  to  notice  the  fearless- 
ness with  which  he  avowed,  and  the  ability  with 
which  he  defended  religion.  It  is  our  province, 
now,  to  notice  the  earlier  developments  of  his 
piety,  the  first  manifestations  of  the  grace  which 
was  given  him.  "I  have  been  favored,"  says  Mr. 
Scott,  "  with  the  sight  of  several  letters  written 
by  him  from  this  place,  which,  amidst  all  the 
vivacity  and  playfulness  belonging  to  his  years 
and  his  character,  discover  a  serious  and  feeling 
sense  of  religion,  and  even  a  distinct  insight  into 
the  leading  doctrines  of  Christianity.  lie  alludes 
repeatedly  to  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Miliier,  of 
which  he  evidently  retained  a  very  pleasing  re- 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  13 

collection,  and  on  which  he  says  he  should  re- 
joice again  to  attend  :  he  takes  a  lively  interest 
in  the  success  of  Mr.  Milner's  labors,  and  those 
of  other  pious  ministers ;  expresses  much  aver- 
sion to  the  theatre,  and  deprecates  being  com- 
pelled to  attend  its  exhibitions :  but,  on  the 
whole,  is  well  content  with  all  that  might  befall 
him,  believing  that  it  would  work  for  his  good, 

"  On  his  removal  to  Cambridge,  or  even  be- 
fore that  time,  he  appears  to  have  fallen  under 
the  direction  of  persons  who  much  feared  his 
being  too  serious,  and  who  were  willing  even  to 
risk  making  him  dissipated,  rather  than  allow 
him  to  be  more  religious  than  the  world  ap- 
proves;  and,  under  this  influence,  he  made  not 
that  use  of  his  time  at  the  University  which  he 
would  afterwards  have  wished  that  he  had  done. 

"  I  have  the  best  authority,  however,  for  say- 
ing, that  his  conduct  never  was  vicious.  That 
he  always  possessed  and  cultivated  a  literary 
taste,  it  would  be  superfluous  to  state :  but,  after 
he  became  decidedly  religious,  he  conscientiously 
and  diligently  applied  himself  to  all  those  studies 
which  become  a  christian  gentleman  and  a  legis- 
lator, that  he  might  consecrate  his  talents,  thus 
improved  to  the  utmost,  to  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  good  of  his  fellow  creatures." 
2 


14  MEMUIR    OF 

Mr.  Wilberforce  entered  as  a  fellow-commoner 
at  St.  John's  College,  where  he  formed  an  inti- 
macy with  Mr.  Pitt,  which  remained  unbroken 
till  the  close  of  that  statesman's  life,  in  1806. 
He  did  not  obtain  any.a'cademical  honors,  such 
being  very  rarely  sought  at  that  time  by  young 
men  of  his  standing ;  but  his  attainments  were 
highly  respectable,  and  his  classical  taste  ac- 
knowledged. In  1781,  he  took  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  that  of  Master  in  1788. 

In  the  year  1780,  when  he  had  just  attained 
his  majority,  he  was  chosen  to  represent  his 
native  town  in  parliament ;  an  honor  which  ap- 
pears to  have  been  unsolicited  on  his  part,  but 
which  could  not  fail  to  yield  him  very  high  grati- 
fication. Thus  an  appropriate  sphere  for  the 
exercise  of  his  talents  was  unexpectedly  sup- 
plied; and  an  opportunity  of  preparation  was 
given,  for  the  great  work  of  his  life.  The  guid- 
ance of  Divine  Providence,  in  this  event,  is  now 
recognized  by  the  devout  observer  with  joy  and 
gratitude. 

His  name  first  occurs  in  the  Parliamentary 
Journals  in  the  year  1781,  as  one  of  the  com- 
missioners for  administering  the  oaths  to  mem- 
bers; but  he  does  not  appear  to  have  taken  any 
active   part   in   the    business   of   the   house   till 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  15 

1783,  when  he  seconded  an  address  of  thanks  on 
the  peace,  and  warmly  opposed  Mr.  Fox's  India 
bill.  In  the  year  1784,  on  the  summary  dis- 
missal of  the  coalition  administration,  he  was 
re-elected  for  Hull,  in  opposition  to  Mr.  David 
Hartley,  an  eminent  partisan  of  Mr.  Fox ;  but 
immediately  resigned  its  representation,  on  being 
chosen  for  the  county  of  York,  for  which  he 
continued  to  sit  in  six  successive  parliaments, 
till  he  voluntarily  surrendered  the  honor  in  1812, 
on  account  of  increasing  infirmities.  In  the 
year  1808,  his  return  was  warmly  contested  ; 
but,  such  was  the  admiration  in  which  his  char- 
acter was  held,  and  the  value  put  upon  his  ser- 
vices, that  the  expenses  of  his  election,  though 
exceeding  .£100,000,  were  far  more  than  met  by 
voluntary  subscriptions. 

Two  years  after,  in  1786,  he  succeeded  in 
carrying  through  the  Commons  a  Bill  for  the 
Amendment  of  our  Criminal  Code,  the  principal 
object  of  which  was,  to  give  certainty  to  punish- 
ment; but,  being  opposed  by  Lord  Chancellor 
Loughborough,  it  was  rejected  in  the  upper  house 
without  a  division.  If  we  may  judge  from  the 
comments  of  the  chancellor,  it  reflected  more 
credit  on  the  heart,  than  on  the  legal  dexterity  of 
Mr.  Wilberforce. 


16  MEMOIR    OF 

In  the  early  part  of  his  parliamentary  career, 
his  style  of  oratory  appears  to  have  partaken  of 
severer  and  more  caustic  qualities  than  at  a  later 
period.  "  It  is  instructive  to  ob:=erve,"  remarks 
a  writer  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  ^Vilberforce, 
"  the  early  parliamentary  career  of  this  great 
man.  If  there  ever  was  a  being  gifted  with 
more  than  human  kindness,  it  was  Mr.  Wilber- 
force.  His  tone,  his  manners,  his  look,  were  all 
conciliatory,  even  to  persuasive  tenderness;  yet 
we  have  already  seen  him  reproved  for  undue 
severity  by  Fox,  and  we  next  find  him  tutored  in 
meekness  by  Pitt!  In  17S7,  in  a  debate  on 
the  commercial  relations  with  France,  Burke 
had  provoked  Mr.  "NVilherforce  into  some  acri- 
mony of  retort,  when  Mr.  Pitt  checked  him  for 
his  imprudence,  telling  him  that  '  it  was  as  far 
beyond  his  powers  as  his  wishes,  to  contend  with 
such  an  opponent  as  Burke,  in  abuse  and  per- 
sonality.' " 

It  is  easily  to  be  believed,  that  his  religious 
character  was  severely  tried  in  the  earliest  period 
of  his  parliamentary  life.  His  society  was  courted 
by  the  leading  men  of  his  day,  and  the  associa- 
tions into  which  he  was  consequently  brought, 
proved  unfriendly  to  the  growth  of  his  christian 
principles.      Being    introduced    to    the    political 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  17 

clubs  of  London,  his  character  was  tested,  and 
there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  its  religious  tone 
was  somewhat  lowered.  He  was  surrounded  by 
men  of  secular  ambition,  and  we  need  not  won- 
der if  the  unsuspecting  confidence  of  youth  ex- 
posed him  to  serious  injury.  Political  pursuits 
have  ever  been  pregnant  with  danger  to  religious 
principles.  But,  at  the  period  to  which  we  now 
refer,  they  possessed  an  absorbing  power,  which 
increased  a  thousand  fold  their  means  of  evil. 
Party  politics  were  at  their  height.  The  atmos- 
phere of  Europe  was  charged  with  the  elements 
of  disorder  and  ruin.  The  most  sagacious  states- 
men were  perplexed  by  the  signs  of  the  times  ; 
and  all  men  were  preparing,  in  fearful  mood,  for 
that  mighty  struggle  which  was  to  shake  the 
fabric  of  European  society,  and  to  give  to  its 
character  and  prospects  an  entirely  different 
aspect.  That  the  youthful  mind  of  Mr.  Wilber- 
force  should  so  far  have  been  stimulated  by  the 
absorbing  influences  of  this  period,  as  to  be 
"drawn  away  from  God,  and  turned  aside  to 
vanity,"  may  excite  our  regret,  but  cannot 
awaken  surprise.  It  needed  all  the  determina- 
tion of  a  matured  christian  to  withstand  the  evil 
influences  by  which  he  was  surrounded. 
2* 


18  MEMOIR    OP 

But  we  have  reason  to  adore  the  Father  of 
mercies,  that  his  gracious  interposition  arrested 
the  progress  of  the  evil ;  thus  preserving,  to  the 
cause  of  humanity  and  christian  truth,  one  of 
its  most  consistent  and  successful  advocates.  It 
is  interesting  to  observe  the  means  which  were 
employed  for  the  recovery  of  such  a  mind  from 
its  spiritual  torpor.  The  tendency  of  its  asso- 
ciations was  not  only  to  perpetuate,  but  to  in- 
crease the  evil.  When  religious  sensibility  is 
impaired — when  the  heart  ceases  to  reply  with 
cheerfulness  and  promptitude  to  the  calls  of 
piety — there  is  much  reason  to  fear  lest,  for  its 
own  protection  from  distracting  thoughts,  it 
should  plunge  into  the  arms  of  dissipation  or 
infidelity.  Thousands  have  sought  refuge  from 
themselves  by  adopting  so  fearful  an  alternative; 
but  the  watchful  eye  of  Infinite  Benevolence  was 
upon  Mr.  Wilberforce,  and  the  intercourse  of 
friendship  was  speedily  sanctified  to  the  religious 
renovation  of  his  heart. 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1784,  and 
again  in  178.5,"  says  Mr.  Scott,  "  Mr.  Wilber- 
force travelled  on  the  continent  with  a  party  of 
friends.  The  late  Dean  of  Carlisle,  Dr.  Isaac 
Milner,  was  his  companion  in  the  same  carriage  : 
and   here  these  highly  gifted   friends  discussed 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  19 

various  interesting  topics  together.  Religion 
was  of  the  number  :  and,  on  one  occasion,  Mr. 
"Wilberforce  having  expressed  respect  for  a  pious 
clergyman,  added,  that  he  '  carried  things  too 
far.'  His  friend  pressed  him  upon  this  point. 
"*  What  did  he  mean  by  carrying  things  too  far,  or 
being  too  strict?  On  what  ground  did  he  pro- 
nounce this  to  be  the  case  ?  When  we  talk  of 
going  too  far,  some  standard  must  necessarily  be 
referred  to :  was  the  standard  of  scripture  ex- 
ceeded ?  or  could  any  other  standard  be  satis- 
factorily adopted  and  maintained  ?  Perhaps  it 
would  not  easily  be  shown  that,  where  things 
were  carried,  as  it  was  alleged,  too  far,  they 
were  not  carried  beyond  the  rules  of  scripture, 
but  only  beyond  what  was  usually  practised  and 
approved  among  men.' 

"  Mr.  Wilberforce,  when  thus  pressed  by  his 
friend,  endeavored  to  explain  and  defend  his 
position  as  well  as  he  could  :  but  he  was  dissat- 
isfied himself  with  what  he  had  to  offer ;  in 
short,  he  felt  that  his  own  notions  on  the  subject 
were  vague  and  untenable.  A  lodgment  was 
thus  made  in  his  conscience ;  matter  for  serious 
thinking  was  suggested ;  and  his  thoughts  could 
find  no  rest  till  they  found  it  from  the  word  of 
God,  and  the  adoption  of  a  scriptural  standard. 


20  MEMOIR  or 

by  which  to  form  all  his  judgments,  and  regulate 
all  his  conduct. 

"Another  incident  in  the  history  of  his  mind 
at  this  period,  as  related  by  himself,  is  not  less 
interesting  and  instructive  than  the  preceding. 
*  As  I  read,'  said  he,  '  the  promises  of  holy  scrip- 
ture— "Ask  and  ye  shall  receive,  seek  and  ye 
shall  find,  knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
you  ;  God  will  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that 
ask  him ;  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and 
are  heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest;  I  will 
take  away  the  heart  of  stone,  and  give  you  the 
heart  of  flesh  ;  I  will  put  my  laws  in  your  hearts, 
and  write  them  in  your  inward  parts  ;  I  will  be 
merciful  unto  their  unrighteousness,  and  their 
sins  and  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more" — 
as  I  read  these  passages,  it  occured  to  me  tO' 
reflect — If  these  things  be  so — if  there  be  any 
truth  in  all  this — and  if  I  set  myself  to  seek  the 
blessings  thus  promised — I  shall  certainly  find  a 
sensible  effect  and  change  wrought  within  me,, 
such  as  is  thus  described.  I  will  put  the  matter 
to  the  proof:  I  will  try  the  experiment  :  I  will 
seek,  that  I  may  find  the  promised  blessings.' 
lie  did  so;  and  the  result  was  peace,  and  liberty, 
and  victory — peace  of  conscience,  and  purified 
affections ;  deliverance  from  those  sins  which  had 


•WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  21 

ensnared  him,  or  held  him  in  bondage  ;  '  the 
victory  that  overcometh  the  world,'  and  boldness 
'  to  confess  Christ  before  men.'  '  He  had  the 
witness  in  himself;'  a  sensible  evidence,  both 
that  the  word  of  God  is  true,  and  that  he  had  not 
in  vain  sought  the  fulfilment  of  its  promises  to 
himself." 

Happy  would  it  be  for  mankind,  if  they  could 
be  induced  to  make  a  similar  trial.  The  word 
of  God  is  the  instrument  of  regeneration.  It  is 
the  incorruptible  seed,  by  which  we  are  born 
again;  the  word  of  truth,  by  which  God  of  his 
own  will  hath  begotten  us.  Its  efficiency  has 
been  proved  in  ten  thousand  cases ;  and  when- 
ever, in  future  times,  the  inquiring  and  anxious 
mind  shall  turn  to  its  pages,  and  devoutly  seek 
to  imbibe  its  spirit,  it  will  infallibly  transmit  to 
his  heart  an  influence  which  shall  make  him  a 
new  creature  in  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  admirably 
adapted  to  the  renovation  of  man's  moral  nature. 
As  an  instrument,  it  is  perfect ;  let  it  then  be 
employed  aright,  and  the  happiest  effects  must 
follow. 

With  the  feelings  which  resulted  from  these 
searchings  of  heart,  Mr.  Wilberforce  once  more 
sought  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Newton,  and, 
in  the  winter  of  1785-6,  at   his   earnest  recom- 


182  MEMOIR    OF 

mendation,  began  to  attend  the  ministry  of  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Scott,  at  the  Lock  Hospital.  "  This 
was  a  period  of  my  life,"  says  the  subject  of  our 
memoir,  "  when  it  was  peculiarly  important  to 
me  habitually  to  attend  the  ministrations  of  a 
sound  and  failhful  pastor;  and  I  willingly  as- 
sented to  Mr.  Newton's  earnest  recommendations 
of  Mr.  Scott.  I  soon  found  that  he  fully  equalled 
the  strongest  expectations  that  I  had  formed  of 
him,  and  from  that  time  for  many  years  I  at- 
tended him  regularly,  for  the  most  part  accom- 
panied by  my  dear  friends — both,  alas  I  now 
gone  to  a  better  world — the  Hon.  Edward  James 
Eliot,  and  Mr.  Henry  Thornton.  We  used  to 
hear  him  at  the  Lock  in  the  morning;  Mr. 
Thornton  and  I  often  gladly  following  him  for 
the  afternoon  service  into  the  city,  where  he 
had  the  lectureship  of  Bread  Street  church.  All 
objections  arising  from  an  unfavorable  manner 
were  at  once  overruled  by  the  strong  sense,  the 
extensive  acquaintance  with  scripture,  the  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  and  the  ve- 
hement and  powerful  a[i].eals  to  the  conscience, 
with  which  all  his  sermons  abounded,  in  a  greater 
degree  than  those  of  anv  other  minister  I  ever 
attended.  Indeed,  the  substantial  solidity  of  his 
discourses  made  those  of   ordinary   clergymen, 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  23 

though  good  and  able  men,  appear  comparative! j 
somewhat  superficial  and  defective  in  matter." 

Some  of  his  friends  now  recommended  his  re- 
tirement from  public  life,  but  others,  with  much 
more  wisdom  and  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  God, 
urged  him  to  retain  the  station  which  Providence 
had  assigned  him.  Happily  for  the  interests  of 
humanity,  Mr.  Wilberforce  adopted  the  advice 
of  the  latter.  "  I  feel  a  sort  of  self-congratula- 
tion, at  present,"  said  the  Rev.  Thomas  Scott,  in 
1807,  "  that,  about  twenty  years  ago,  1  withstood, 
with  all  my  energy,  Mr. 's  counsel,  who  ad- 
vised Mr.  Wilberforce  to  retire  from  public  life. 
Had  that  counsel  been  followed,  the  slave-trade, 
might  have  continued  to  future  generations." 

Our  country  was  first  implicated  in  the  Afri- 
can slave-trade  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Sir 
John  Hawkins  possesses  the  unenviable  distinc- 
tion of  having  been  the  first  Englishman  who 
engaged  in  it.  This  occurred  in  the  year  1562. 
He  deceived  his  royal  mistress,  by  representing 
the  Africans  as  voluntary  laborers.  The  queen 
is  stated  to  have  expressed  her  deep  concern  lest 
any  of  the  negroes  should  be  forced  from  their 
country,  declaring  "  it  would  be  detestable,  and 
call  down  the  vengeance  of  Heaven  upon  the 
undertakers."     A  large  number  of  vessels  annu- 


24  MEMOIR    OF 

ally  sailed  from  this  country,  taking  with  them 
fire-arras,  intoxicating  liquors,  and  other  articles 
of  trifling  value,  which  they  exchanged  for  slaves. 
This  traffic  continued,  without  exciting  much 
attention  from  the  moral  part  of  the  community^ 
till  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  The  society 
of  Friends  were  among  its  earliest  opponents ; 
and  by  their  untiring  efforts  for  its  abolition, 
have  entitled  themselves  to  the  esteem  and  grati- 
tude of  mankind.  So  early  as  the  year  1727, 
they  passed  a  resolution,  at  their  annual  meeting, 
declaring  "that  the  importing  of  negroes  from 
their  native  country  and  relations,  by  Friends,  is 
not  a  commendable  nor  allowed  practice,  and  is 
therefore  censured  by  this  meeting."  In  1758, 
they  proceeded  farther,  warning  all  in  connexion 
with  them,  that  they  carefully  avoid  being  in 
any  way  concerned  in  reaping  the  unrighteous 
profits  arising  from  it."  At  length,  in  1761, 
they  determined  to  disown  all  such  as  engaged 
in  it ;  thus  furnishing  an  example  to  Chris- 
tendom, which  redounds  to  the  honor  of  our 
common  faith. 

But  the  elTorts  of  the  Quakers,  though  honora- 
ble to  themselves,  and  efficient  in  reference  to 
their  own  members,  failed  to  make  any  extensive 
impression  on  the  nation.     This,  however,  was 


WILLIAM    WILBERFOKCE.  25 

accomplished  by  the  labors  of  Mr.  Granville 
Sharp,  one  of  those  enlightened  philanthropists, 
who  break  the  continuity  of  human  selfishness 
and  crime,  and  attach  a  character  of  distin- 
guished honor  to  the  age  in  which  they  live. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  planters  and  merchants  were  accustomed  to 
bring  slaves  from  the  colonies  in  the  capacity  of 
servants,  and  subsequently,  to  return  them  at 
their  pleasure  to  the  West  Indies.  A  notion 
became  extensively  prevalent  among  this  class, 
that  the  English  law  did  not  sanction  their  mas- 
ters in  returning  them  to  bondage,  if  they  had 
submitted,  during  their  residence  in  England, 
to  the  christian  rite  of  baptism.  They  conse- 
quently solicited,  with  much  importunity,  the 
performance  of  this  rite  ;  and  having  obtained 
its  administration,  they  absconded.  This  state 
of  things  involved  the  planters  and  merchants 
in  much  perplexity,  and  induced  them,  in  1729, 
to  solicit  the  opinion  of  York  and  Talbot,  the 
attorney  and  solicitor  general.  This  opinion 
was  unfavorable  to  the  negroes,  and  they  were, 
in  consequence,  seized,  and  openly  forced  on 
board  the  vessels  which  were  destined  to  convey 
them  to  the  land  of  slavery.  Public  feeling 
was  thus  outraged,  and  the  means  of  deliverance 


26  MEMOIR   OF 

for  the  oppressed  unexpectedly  prepared.  Mr. 
Sharp  took  an  active  part  in  the  struggles  of  that 
period.  He  first  appeared  before  the  public  as 
the  friend  of  the  African,  in  the  case  of  Jona- 
than Strong,  who  was  brought  to  England  in 
1765.  This  slave,  having  been  barbarously  used 
by  his  master,  Mr.  David  Lisle,  became  so  ema- 
ciated by  ague,  fever  and  lameness,  as  to  be 
utterly  useless,  and  was,  consequently,  permitted 
to  go  whither  he  pleased,  in  order  that  the  ex- 
pense of  his  maintenance  might  be  avoided.  In 
this  miserable  condition,  he  applied  to  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Sharp,  brother  of  Mr.  Granville  Sharp,  for 
medical  advice,  under  whose  benevolent  and 
skilful  care  he  was  restored  to  health.  During 
his  recovery,  he  was  supplied  with  money  by  Mr. 
Granville  Sharp,  who  afterwards  procured  him  a 
situation.  Here  his  master  saw  him,  and  deter- 
mined on  repossessing  him.  For  this  purpose, 
he  caused  him  to  be  seized  by  some  of  the  city 
officers,  who  con\eyed  him,  wilhout  a  warrant, 
to  the  Poultry  Compter,  where  he  was  sold  to 
John  Kerr,  for  thirty  j)ounds.  "In  tliis  situa- 
tion," Mr.  Clarkson  tells  us,  in  his  History  of 
the  Abolition,  "  Strong  sent,  as  was  usual,  to  his 
godfathers,  John  London  and  Stephen  Nail,  lor 
their  protection.     They  went,  but  were  refused 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  27 

admittance  to  him.  At  length,  he  sent  for  Mr. 
Granville  Sharp.  The  latter  went,  but  they  still 
refused  admission  to  the  prisoner.  He  insisted, 
however,  upon  seeing  him,  and  charged  the 
keeper  of  tlie  prison  at  his  peril,  to  deliver  him 
up  till  he  had  been  carried  before  a  magistrate. 

"  Mr.  Sharp,  immediately  upon  this,  waited 
upon  Sir  Robert  Kite,  then  lord  mayor,  and  en- 
treated him  to  send  for  Strong,  and  to  hear  his 
case.  A  day  was  accordingly  appointed.  Mr. 
Sharp  attended,  and  also  William  M'Bean,  a  no- 
tary public,  and  David  Laird,  captain  of  the  ship 
Thames,  which  was  to  have  conveyed  Strong  to 
Jamaica,  in  behalf  of  the  purchaser,  John  Kerr. 
A  long  conversation  ensued,  in  which  the  opin- 
ion of  York  and  Talbot  was  quoted,  Mr.  Sharp 
made  his  observations.  Certain  lawyers,  who 
were  present,  seemed  to  be  staggered  at  the  case, 
but  inclined  rather  to  recommit  the  prisoner. 
The  lord  mayor,  however,  discharged  Strong,  as 
he  had  been  taken  up  without  a  warrant. 

"As  soon  as  this  determination  was  made 
known,  the  parties  began  to  move  off.  Captain 
Laird,  however,  who  kept  close  to  Strong,  laid 
hold  of  him  before  he  had  quitted  the  room,  and 
said  aloud,  'Then  I  now  seize  him  as  my  slave." 
Upon  this,  Mr.  Sharp  put  his  hand  upon  Laird's 


28  MEMOIR   OF 

shoulder,  and  pronounced  these  words ;  '  I  charge 
you,  in  the  name  of  the  king,  with  an  assault 
upon  the  person  of  Jonathan  Strong,  and  all 
these  are  my  witnesses.'  Laird  was  greatly  in- 
timidated by  this  charge,  made  in  the  presence 
of  the  lord  mayor  and  others,  and  fearing  a  pro- 
secution, let  his  prisoner  go,  leaving  hira  to  be 
conveyed  away  by  Mr.  Sharp." 

Several  other  cases  of  a  similar  nature  subse- 
<iuently  occurred,  in  all  of  which  Mr.  Sharp  took 
a  prominent  part.  But  the  legal  question  was 
yet  unsettled.  No  broad  principle,  to  which  the 
future  protection  of  the  African  might  be  en- 
trusted, had  been  admitted;  and  it  was,  there- 
fore, determined,  in  the  case  of  James  Somerset, 
to  try  the  general  question,  "Whether  a  slave,  by 
coming  into  England,  became  free."  In  order 
that  the  law  might  be  fully  ascertained,  the  case 
was  argued  at  three  different  sittings,  in  1772, 
and  the  pleadings  submitted  to  the  opinion  of  the 
judges.  The  result  of  the  trial  is  well  known. 
To  the  honor  of  the  British  constitution,  it  was 
declared — That  as  soon  as  ever  any  slave  set  his 
foot  on  English  territory,  he  became  free.  This 
was  an  important  and  influential  step.  It  con- 
tained  the  germ   of  subsequent   measures,   and 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  29 

gave  promise  to  outraged  humanity  of  more  com- 
plete vindication. 

From  this  period,  public  attention  was  increas- 
ingly drawn  to  the  question.  It  became  the 
topic  of  general  conversation.  Its  nature  was 
inquired  into,  and  a  conviction,  perpetually  deep- 
ening, of  its  inhuman  and  diabolical  character, 
was  obtained.  The  public  abhorrence  was  greatly 
strengthened  by  a  circumstance  which  occurred 
in  1783. 

"  In  this  year,  certain  underwriters  desired  to 
be  heard  against  Gregson  and  others,  of  Liver- 
pool, in  the  case  of  the  ship  Zong,  Captain  Col- 
lingwood,  alleging  that  the  captain  and  officers 
of  the  said  vessel  threw  overboard  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  slaves  alive  into  the  sea,  in  order 
to  defraud  them,  by  claiming  the  value  of  the 
said  slaves,  as  if  they  had  been  lost  in  a  natural 
way.  In  the  course  of  the  trial,  which  after- 
wards came  on,  it  appeared  that  the  slaves  on 
board  the  Zong  were  very  sickly  ;  that  sixty  of 
tiiem  had  already  died,  and  several  were  ill, 
and  likely  to  die — when  the  Captain  proposed  to 
James  Kelsall,  the  mate,  and  others,  to  throw 
several  of  them  overboard,  stating  'that  if  they 
died  a  natural  death,  the  loss  would  fall  upon  the 
owners  of  the  ship,  but  that  if  they  were  thrown 


30  MEMOIR    OF 

into  the  sea,  it  would  fall  upon  the  underwri- 
ters.^ He  selected,  accordingly,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  of  the  most  sickly  of  the  slaves. 
Fifty-four  of  these  were  immediately  thrown  over- 
board, and  forty-two  were  made  to  be  partakers 
of  their  fate  on  the  succeeding  day.  In  the 
course  of  three  days  afterwards,  the  remaining 
twenty-six  were  brought  upon  deck,  to  complete 
the  numher  of  victims.  The  first  sixteen  sub- 
mitted to  be  thrown  into  the  sea,  but  the  rest, 
with  a  noble  resolution,  would  not  suffer  the  offi- 
cers to  touch  them,  but  leaped  after  their  com- 
panions, and  shared  their  fate! 

*'  The  plea  which  was  set  up  in  behalf  of  tiiis 
atrocious  and  unparalleled  act  of  wickednc^-s 
was,  that  the  captain  discovered,  when  he  made 
the  proposal,  that  he  had  only  two  hundred  gal- 
lons of  water  on  board,  and  that  he  had  missed 
his  port.  It  was  proved,  however,  in  answer  to 
this,  that  no  one  had  been  put  upon  short  allow- 
ance, and  that,  as  if  Providence  had  determined 
to  afford  an  unequivocal  proof  of  the  guilt,  a 
shower  of  rain  fell,  and  continued  for  three  days, 
immediately  after  the  second  lot  of  slaves  had 
been  destroyed,  by  means  of  which  they  might 
have   filled   many  of  their   vessels*   with   water, 

*  Ii  ai>i>ciircd  lliat  llicv  lillfd  six. 


\Vir,I,IAM    WILBERFORCE.  31 

and  thus  have  prevented   all   necessity  for  the 
destruction  of  the  third. 

"  Mr.  Sharp  was  present  at  this  trial,  and  pro- 
cured the  attendance  of  a  short-hand  writer,  to 
take  down  the  facts  which  should  come  out  in 
the  course]  of  it.  These  he  gave  to  the  public 
afterwards.  He  communicated  them  also,  with 
a  copy  of  the  trial,  to  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty, 
as  the  guardians  of  justice  upon  the  seas,  and  to 
the  duke  of  Portland,  as  principal  minister  of 
state.  No  notice,  however,  was  taken  by  any 
of  these,  of  the  information  which  had  been  thus 
sent  them. 

"  But  though  nothing  was  done  by  the  persons 
then  in  power,  in  consequence  o^  the  murder  of 
so  many  innocent  individuals,  yet  the  publication 
of  an  account  of  it  by  Mr.  Sharp,  in  the  newspa- 
pers, made  such  an  iuipression  upon  others,  that 
new  coadjutors  rose  up." 

Two  years  after  this,  in  1785,  Mr.  Thomas 
Clarkson  directed  his  attention  to  this  subject, 
and  the  result  of  his  inquiries  was  an  entire  dedi- 
cation of  himself  to  the  interests  of  humanity. 
In  that  year.  Dr.  Peckhard,  the  vice-chancellor 
of  Cambridge,  proposed  to  the  senior  bachelors 
in  arts  the  following  question,  as  the  subject  for  a 
Latin  dissertation  : — "  Is  it  right  to  make  slaves 


33  MEMOIR    OP 

of  others  against  their  will  ?"  Mr.  Clarkson  was 
at  this  time  of  the  order  of  senior  bachelors,  and, 
having  the  previous  year  obtained  the  prize  for 
the  best  Latin  dissertation,  a  regard  to  his  own 
reputation  led  him  to  try  for  it  again.  He  at 
once  perceived  that  the  question  had  a  direct 
bearing  on  the  African  slave-trade,  and  proceeded 
to  London,  to  obtain  information  respecting  the 
manner  in  which  this  traffic  was  conducted. 
Hitherto  he  had  felt  no  interest  in  the  question 
itself.  His  only  concern  was  to  maintain  and 
extend  his  reputation  in  the  university.  But  in 
the  course  of  his  reading,  his  mind  underwent  an 
entire  revolution.  The  atrocities  which  were 
systematically  practised  on  the  African  coast, 
harrowed  up  his  soul,  and  induced  a  degree  of 
feeling  scarcely  compatible  with  the  calm  dis- 
charge of  his  duties.  Hir  own  account  of  the 
state  of  his  mind  at  this  period,  is  eminently 
beautiful  and  touching. 

"  Furnished  then  in  this  manner,"  he  says, 
"  I  began  my  work.  But  no  person  can  tell  the 
severe  trial  which  the  writing  of  it  proved  to  me. 
I  had  expected  pleasure  from  the  invention  of 
the  arguments,  from  the  arrangement  of  them, 
from  the  putting  of  them  together,  and  from  the 
thought,  in  the  interim,  that  I  was  engaged   in 


WILLIAM    WILBERFOUCE.  33 

an  innocent  contest  for  literary  honor.  But  all 
my  pleasure  was  damped  by  the  facts  which  were 
now  continually  before  me.  It  was  but  one 
gloomy  subject,  from  morning  to  night.  In  the 
day-time  I  was  uneasy  ;  in  the  night  I  had  little 
rest.  I  sometimes  never  closed  my  eyelids  for 
grief.  It  became  now  not  so  much  a  tri-al  for 
academical  reputation,  as  for  the  production  of  a 
work  which  might  be  useful  to  injured  Africa. 
And  keeping  this  idea  in  my  mind  ever  after  the 
perusal  of  Benezet,  I  always  slept  with  a  candle 
in  my  room,  that  I  might  rise  out  of  bed,  and 
put  down  such  thoughts  as  might  occur  to  me  in 
the  night,  if  I  judged  them  valuable,  conceiving 
that  no  arguments  of  any  moment  should  be  lost 
in  so  great  a  cause.  Having  at  length  finished 
this  painful  task,  I  sent  my  essay  to  the  vice- 
chancellor,  and  soon  afterwards  found  myself 
honored,  as  before,  with  the  first  prize. 

"As  it  is  usual  to  read  these  essays  publicly  in. 
the  senate-house,  soon  after  the  prize  is  adjudged, 
I  was  called  to  Cambridge  for  this  purpose.  I 
went,  and  performed  my  office.  On  returning, 
however,  to  London,  the  subject  of  it  almost 
wholly  engrossed  my  thoughts.  I  became,  at 
times,  very  seriously  aiVected  while  upon  the 
road.      I   stopped   my    horse   occasionally,   and 


34  MEMOIR    OP 

dismounted  and  walked.  I  frequently  tried  to 
persuade  myself,  in  these  intervals,  that  the  con- 
tents of  my  essay  could  not  be  true.  The  more, 
however,  I  reflected  upon  them,  or  rather  upon 
the  authorities  on  which  they  were  founded,  the 
more  I  gave  them  credit.  Coming  in  sight  of 
Wade's  Mill,  in  Hertfordshire,  I  sat  down  dis- 
consolate on  the  turf  by  the  road-side,  and  held 
my  horse.  Here,  a  thought  came  into  my  mind, 
that  if  the  contents  of  the  essay  were  true,  it  was 
time  some  person  should  see  these  calamities  to 
their  end.  Agitated  in  this  manner,  I  reached 
home.     This  was  in  the  summer  of  1785. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  autumn  of  the  same 
year,  I  experienced  similar  impressions.  I  walked 
frequently  into  the  woods,  that  I  might  think  on 
the  subject  in  solitude,  and  find  relief  to  my  mind 
there.  But  there  the  question  still  recurred, 
'Are  these  things  true?'  Still  the  answer  fol- 
lowed as  instantaneously,  '  They  are.'  Still  the 
result  accompanied  it — '  Then,  surely,  some  per- 
son should  interfere.'  I  then  began  to  envy 
those  who  had  seats  in  parliament,  and  who  had 
great  riches,  and  widely-extended  connections, 
which  would  enable  them  to  take  up  this  cause. 
Finding  scarcely  any  one  at  that  lime  who 
thought  of  it,  I  was  turned  frequently  to  myself. 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  35 

But  here  many  difficulties  arose.  It  struck  me, 
among  others,  that  a  young  man  of  only  twenty- 
four  years  of  age  would  not  have  that  solid  judg- 
ment, or  knowledge  of  men,  manners  and  things, 
which  were  requisite  to  qualify  him  to  undertake 
a  task  of  such  magnitude  and  importance  : — and 
with  whom  was  I  to  unite  ?  I  believed,  also, 
that  it  looked  so  much  like  one  of  the  feigned 
labors  of  Hercules,  that  my  understanding  would 
be  suspected,  if  I  proposed  it.  On  ruminating, 
however,  on  the  subject,  I  found  one  thing,  at 
least,  practicable,  and  that  this,  also,  was  in  my 
power.  I  could  translate  my  Latin  dissertation. 
I  could  enlarge  it  usefully.  I  could  see  how  the 
public  received  it,  or  how  far  they  were  likely  to 
favor  any  serious  measures,  which  should  have  a 
tendency  to  produce  the  abolition  of  the  slave- 
trade.  Upon  this,  then,  I  determined;  and,  in 
the  middle  of  the  month  of  November,  1785,  I 
began  my  work." 

Mr.  Clarkson  was  now  too  deeply  interested  in 
the  subject  to  return  to  his  ordinary  occupations. 
He  determined  on  the  translation  of  his  essay, 
sought  an  interview  with  Mr.  G.  Sharp,  and  ulti- 
mately resolved  on  abandoning  the  Church,  in 
which  he  had  fair  prospects  of  preferment,  and 
devoting   himself  entirely  to  the   cause  of  the 


36  Mb:.MUIR    OF 

Africans.  From  this  period,  he  occupied  him- 
self in  calling  on  tlie  leading  members  of  the 
two  houses  of  parliament,  in  obtaining  additional 
information,  and  in  circulating  such  works  as 
were  suited  to  enlighten  and  arouse  the  public 
mind.  Among  other  persons,  he  called  on  Mr. 
Wilberforce,  then  in  the  morning  of  his  day. 
Little  did  Mr.  Clarkson  imagine  that  the  young 
senator  whom  he  visited  was  destined  to  act  so 
distinguished  and  praiseworthy  a  part  in  the  great 
struggle  which  was  commencing.  The  designs 
of  Providence  were  yet  unrevealed  ;  but  now 
that  the  result  is  known,  and  the  course  of  Mr. 
Wilberforce  so  honorably  closed,  it  cannot  be 
uninteresting  to  learn  the  reception  which  he 
gave  to  this  sacred  cause,  on  its  being  first  sub- 
mitted to  his  attention. 

"On  my  first  interview  with  him,"  says  Mr. 
Clarkson,  "he  stated  frankly  that  the  subject  had 
often  employed  his  thoughts,  and  that  it  was  near 
his  heart.  lie  seemed  earnest  about  it,  and  also 
very  desirous  of  taking  the  trouble  of  inquiring 
further  into  it.  Having  read  n»y  book,  which  I 
had  delivered  to  him  in  person,  lie  sent  for  me. 
He  expressed  a  wish  that  I  would  make  him  ac- 
([uainted  with  some  of  my  authorities  for  the  as- 
sertions in  it,  which  1  did  afierwards^  to  his  sat- 


WILLIAM    WILBEKFORCE.  37 

isfaction.  He  asked  nie  if  I  could  support  it  by 
any  other  evidence.  I  told  him  I  could ;  I  men- 
tioned Mr.  Newton,  Mr.  Nisbett,  and  several 
others  to  him.  He  took  the  trouble  of  sending 
for  all  these.  He  made  memorandums  of  their 
conversation,  and,  sending  for  me  afterwards, 
showed  them  to  me.  On  learning  my  intention 
to  devote  myself  to  the  cause,  he  paid  me  many 
handsome  compliments.  He  then  desired  me  to 
call  on  him  often,  and  to  acquaint  him  with  my 
progress  from  time  to  tune.  He  expressed,  also, 
his  willingness  to  afford  me  any  assistance  in  his 
power,  in  the  prosecution  of  my  pursuits." 

In  the  course  of  Mr.  Clarkson's  visits  to  Mr. 
Wilberforce,  tlie  latter  manifested  an  increasing 
interest  in  the  subject  of  their  conference.  His 
strong  mind  readily  yielded  to  the  force  of  evi- 
dence, and  its  convictions  were  aided  by  the 
promptings  of  a  generous  heart.  Occasional 
meetings  of  the  friends  of  abolition  were  held  at 
his  house,  and  measures  were  there  concerted 
f)r  the  accomplishment  of  their  design.  At 
length,  on  the  22d  of  May,  1787,  a  committee 
was  formed  for  the  adoption  of  such  measures 
as  were  calculated  to  effect  the  abolition  of  tlie 
slave-trade,  and  Mr.  Wilberforce  became  their 
parliamentary  leader.  Those  who  have  witnessed 
4 


38  MEMOIR    OF 

the  recent  feelings  of  the  nation  on  this  subject, 
may  imagine  that  but  little  moral  courage  was 
required  for  the  adoption  of  the  course  which 
Mr.  Wilberforce  took.  But  the  state  of  things 
was  then  totally  different  from  what  we  have 
lately  seen.  The  atrocities  of  the  system  were 
not  known  ;  the  moral  sensibilities  of  the  nation 
were  blunted,  and  a  numerous,  affluent,  and 
unprincipled  party  was  pledged  to  opposition. 
It  was  at  this  risk  of  party  associations  and  of 
personal  friendships,  that  he  determined  on  his 
course ;  and  the  virulence  with  which  he  was 
assailed,  and  the  foul  aspersions  which  were  cast 
on  his  unspoltcd  fame,  bespoke  the  fear  which 
his  talents  and  virtues  had  excited.  The  nation, 
though  but  little  informed,  and  still  less  inter- 
ested, in  this  great  question,  was  yet  in  advance 
of  the  house  of  commons.  The  first  petition 
presented  to  that  house  was  from  the  Quakers, 
in  I7S'3;  the  second  was  from  Bridge  water,  in 
1785,  and  its  reception  was  most  discouraging. 
"There  did  not  appear,"  say  the  members  for 
B:idgewater,  in  a  joint  letter  which  they  ad- 
dressed to  their  cnnstitueiits,  "  the  l-jast  disposi- 
tion to  pay  any  further  attention  to  it.  Every 
one,  almost,  says  tliat  the  abolition  of  the  slave- 
trade  must   immediately  throw   the   West   India 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  39 

Islands  into  convulsions,  and  soon  complete  their 
utter  ruin." 

Under  these  circumstances,  Mr.  Wilberforce 
gave  notice,  early  in  1788,  of  his  intention  to 
bring  the  subject  before  the  legislature ;  but  be- 
ing prevented  from  doing  so  by  indisposition,  Mr. 
Pitt,  on  the  9th  of  May,  introduced  and  carried 
the  following  resolution  : — "  That  this  house  will, 
early  in  the  next  session  of  parliament,  proceed 
to  take  into  consideration  the  circumstance  of 
the  slave-trade,  complained  of  in  the  said  peti- 
tion, and  what  may  be  fit  to  be  done  thereupon." 
In  the  course  of  the  discussion  on  this  motion, 
Mr.  Fox  complained  of  the  ignorance  in  which 
Mr.  Pitt  had  left  the  house  respecting  his  own 
views,  and  of  the  delay  which  his  proposition 
involved,  declaring  that,  for  himself,  he  had  no 
scruple  about  asserting,  at  the  outset,  that  the 
slave-trade  ought  not  to  be  regulated,  but  de- 
stroyed. To  this  opinion  he  said  his  mind  was 
made  up  ;  and  he  was  persuaded  that  the  more 
the  subject  was  considered,  the  more  his  view  of 
it  would  gain  ground  :  and  it  would  be  admitted, 
that  to  consider  it  in  any  other  manner,  or  on 
any  other  principles  than  those  of  humanity  and 
justice,  would  be  idle  and  absurd.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  observe  these  two  great  men,  who  divided 


40 


MEMOIR    OF 


the  admiration  and  confidence  of  political  parties, 
and  who  were  usually  ranged  on  opposite  sides  of 
the  question  in  debate,  concurring  in  the  future 
stages  of  this  benevolent  measure.  Mr.  Pitt's 
official  character  imposed  at  first  some  restraint 
upon  him  ;  but  he  continued,  throughout  the  pro- 
longed agitation  of  the  question,  its  consistent 
and  able,  though  unsuccessful  advocate.  Many 
of  his  colleagues,  it  is  well  known,  were  violently 
opposed  to  his  views,  nor  did  they  attempt  to 
conceal  their  opposition.  Lord  Chancellor  Thur- 
low.  Lord  Liverpool,  and  Mr.  Dundas  frequently 
opposed  him  in  parliament,  and  were  supported, 
there  is  reason  to  believe,  by  a  higher  and  more 
influential  personage  than  themselves.  This  state 
of  things  prevented  Mr.  Pitt  from  making  the 
abolition  a  cabinet  measure,  and  insured,  in 
consequence,  its  frequent  rejection.  His  personal 
influence  was  unable  to  triumph  over  the  power- 
ful opposition  arrayed  against  it.  Mr.  Fox,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  unfettered  by  office,  and, 
therefore,  spoke  and  acted  according  to  the 
promptings  of  his  generous  nature.  And  when, 
on  the  death  of  Mr.  Pitt,  he  succeeded  to  the 
premiership,  he  proved  his  own  sincerity,  and 
the  political  rectitude  of  his  party,  by  making 
the  abolition  a  ministerial  question. 


WILLIAM    WtLBERKORCE.  41 

In  the  discussion  of  this  subject  which  ensued 
in  parliament,  on  the  12th  of  May,  Mr.  Wilber- 
force  distinguished  himself  by  a  very  able  and 
animated  speech,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
advanced  the  following  propositions,  deduced 
from  the  Privy  Council  Report,  and  intended  as 
subject  of  future  remark  : 

"  1.  That  the  number  of  slaves  annually  car- 
ried from  the  coast  of  Africa,  in  British  vessels, 
was  about  38,000,  of  which,  on  an  average, 
22,500  were  carried  to  the  British  islands  ;  and 
that  of  the  latter,  only  17,500  were  retained  there. 

"2.  That  these  slaves,  according  to  the  evi- 
dence on  the  table,  consisted,  first,  of  prisoners 
of  war  ;  secondly,  of  free  persons  sold  for  debt, 
or  on  account  of  real  or  imputed  crimes,  particu- 
larly adultery  and  witchcraft — in  which  cases 
they  were  frequently  sold  with  their  whole  fami- 
lies, and  sometimes  for  the  profit  of  those  by 
whom  they  were  condemned  ;  thirdly,  of  domes- 
tic slaves  sold  for  the  profit  of  their  masters,  in 
some  places  at  the  will  of  the  masters,  and  in 
others,  on  being  condemned  by  them  for  real  or 
imputed  crimes;  fourthly,  of  persons  made  slaves 
by  various  acts  of  oppression,  violence,  or  fraud, 
committed  either  by  the  princes  and  chiefs  of 
those  countries  on  their  subjects,  or  by  private 


I 

42  MEMOIR   OF 

individuals  on  each  other ;  or  lastly,  by  Europe- 
ans engaged  in  this  traffic. 

"  3.  That  the  trade  so  carried  on  had,  neces- 
sarily, a  tendency  to  occasion  frequent  and  cruel 
wars  among  the  natives,  to  produce  unjust  con- 
victions and  punishments  for  pretended  or  aggra- 
vated crimes,  to  encourage  acts  of  oppression, 
violence  and  fraud,  and  to  obstruct  the  natural 
course  of  civilization  and  improvement  in  those 
countries. 

"  4.  That  Africa  in  its  present  state  furnished 
several  valuable  articles  of  commerce,  which 
were  partly  peculiar  to  its^elf,  but  that  it  was 
adapted  to  the  production  of  others,  with  which 
we  were  now  either  wholly  or  in  great  part  sup- 
plied by  foreign  nations.  That  an  extensive 
commerce  with  Africa  might  be  substituted  in 
these  commodities,  so  as  to  afford  a  return  for 
as  many  articles  as  had  annually  been  carried 
thither  in  British  vessels  :  and  lastly,  that  such  a 
commerce  might  reasonably  be  expected  to  in- 
crease by  the  progress  of  civilization  there. 

"5.  That  the  slave-trade  was  peculiarly  de- 
structive to  the  seamen  employed  in  it ;  and  that 
the  mortality  there  had  been  much  greater  than 
in  any  British  vessels  employed  upon  the  same 
coast  in  any  other  service  or  trade. 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  43 

"6.  That  the  mode  of  transporting  the  slaves 
from  Africa  to  the  West  Indies  necessarily  ex- 
posed them  to  many  and  grievous  sufferings,  for 
which  no  regulations  could  provide  an  adequate 
remedy  ;  and  that  in  consequence  thereof,  a 
large  proportion  had  annually  perished  during 
the  voyage. 

"  7.  That  a  large  proportion  had  also  perished 
in  the  harbors  in  the  West  Indies,  from  the  dis- 
eases contracted  in  the  voyage  and  the  treatment 
of  the  same,  previously  to  their  being  sold,  and 
that  this  loss  amounted  to  four  and  a  half  per 
cent  of  the  imported  slaves. 

"  8.  That  the  loss  of  the  newly  imported  slaves, 
within  the  three  first  years  after  their  importa- 
tion, bore  a  large  proportion  to  the  whole  number 
imported. 

"9.  That  the  natural  increase  of  population 
among  the  slaves  in  the  islands,  appeared  to  have 
been  impeded  principally  by  the  following  causes: 
First,  by  the  inequality  of  the  sexes  in  the  impor- 
tations from  Africa.  Secondly,  by  the  general 
dissoluteness  of  manners  among  the  slaves,  and 
the  want  of  proper  regulations  for  the  encour- 
agement of  marriages,  and  of  rearing  children 
among  them.  Thirdly,  by  the  particular  diseases 
which  were  prevalent  among  them,  and  which 


44  MEMOIR   OP 

were  in  some  instances  to  be  attributed  to  too 
severe  labor,  or  rigorous  treatment,  and  in  others 
to  insufficient  or  improper  food.  Fourthly,  by 
those  diseases  which  affected  a  large  proportion 
of  negro  children  in  their  infancy,  and  by  those 
to  which  the  negroes  newly  imported  from  Africa 
had  been  found  to  be  peculiarly  liable. 

"  10.  That  the  whole  number  of  the  slaves 
in  the  island  of  Jamaica,  in  1768,  was  about 
167,000;  in  1774,  about  193,000,  and  in  1787, 
about  256,000  :  that  by  comparing  these  num- 
bers with  the  numbers  imported  and  retained  in 
the  said  island  during  all  these  years,  and  making 
proper  allowances,  the  annual  excess  of  deaths 
above  births  was  in  the  proportion  of  about  seven 
eighths  per  cent ;  that  in  the  first  six  years  of 
this  period,  it  was  in  the  proportion  of  rather 
more  than  one  on  every  hundred,  that  in  the  last 
thirteen  years  of  the  same,  it  was  in  the  propor- 
tion of  about  three  fifths  on  every  hundred,  and 
that  a  number  of  slaves,  amounting  to  fifteen 
thousand,  perished  during  the  latter  period,  in 
consequence  of  repeated  hurricanes,  and  of  the 
want  of  foreign  supplies  of  provisions. 

"11.  That  the  whole  number  of  slaves  in  the 
island  of  Barbadoes  was,  in  the  year  1764,  about 
70,706;  in  1774,  about  74,874;  in  1780,  about 


WILLIAM    WILBERPORCE.  45 

68,270  ;  in  17S1,  after  the  hurricane,  about 
63,248;  and  in  17S6,  about  62,115:  that  by 
comparing  these  numbers  with  the  number  im- 
ported into  the  island,  (not  allowing  for  any  re- 
exportation,) the  annual  excess  of  deaths  above 
births  in  ten  years,  from  1764  to  1774,  was  in 
the  proportion  of  about  five  on  every  hundred  ; 
that  in  the  seven  years  from  1774  to  1780,  it 
was  in  the  proportion  of  about  one  and  one  third 
on  every  hundred  ;  that  between  the  years  1780 
and  1781,  there  had  been  a  decrease  in  the 
number  of  slaves  of  about  five  thousand  ;  that  in 
the  six  years  from  1781  to  1786,  the  excess  of 
deaths  was  in  the  proportion  of  rather  less  than 
seven  eighths  on  every  hundred;  that  in  the  four 
years  from  1783  to  1786,  it  was  in  the  proportion 
of  rather  less  than  one  third  on  every  hundred; 
and  that  during  the  whole  period,  there  was  no 
doubt  that  some  had  been  exported  from  the 
island,  but  considerably  more  in  the  first  part  of 
this  period  than  in  the  last. 

"  12.  That  the  accounts  from  the  Leeward 
Islands,  from  Dominica,  Grenada,  and  St.  Vin- 
cent's, did  not  furnish  sufficient  grounds  for 
comparing  the  state  of  population  in  the  said 
islands,  at  different  periods,  with  the  number  of 
slaves  which  had  been  from  time  to  time  imported 


46  MEMOIR   OF 

there  and  exported  therefrom  ;  but  that  from  the 
evidence  which  had  been  received  respecting  the 
present  state  of  these  islands,  as  well  as  that  of 
Jamaica  and  Barbadoes,  and  from  a  consideration 
of  the  means  of  obviating  the  causes  which  had 
hitherto  operated  to  impede  the  natural  increase 
of  the  slaves,  and  of  lessening  the  demand  for 
manual  labor,  without  diminishing  the  profit  of 
the  planters,  no  considerable  or  permanent  in- 
convenience would  result  from  discontinuing  the 
further  importation  of  African  slaves." 

The  debate  was  renewed  on  the  25th,  when 
the  further  consideration  of  the  subject  was  de- 
ferred till  the  following  session.  In  1790,  the 
clamor  for  further  evidence  prevailed,  and  no 
progress  was  made.  In  1791,  Mr.  Wilberforce 
was  again  at  his  post;  but  his  motion,  though 
supported  by  the  eloquence  of  Fox  and  Pitt,  was 
lost  by  a  majority  of  75.  Undaunted  by  these 
repeated  failures,  he  renewed  his  efforts  on  the 
3d  of  April,  1792;  and  though  opposed  by  all 
the  rancor  and  sopliistry  which  the  advocates  of 
an  inhuman  system  could  display,  a  motion  for 
the  gradual  abolition  of  the  traffic  was  carried 
through  the  house.  The  merit  of  proposing 
gradual  measures  in  a  case  of  unparalleled  injus- 
tice and  cruelty,  belonged  to  Mr.  Dundas,  after- 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  47 

wards  Lord  Melville.  The  insincerity  of  the 
proposition  was  soon  made  apparent  ;  for  those 
who  were  most  clamorous  in  its  support,  were 
foremost  to  oppose  its  taking  effect.  They  only 
wanted  to  divert,  if  possible,  public  attention 
from  the  subject,  or  at  least,  to  afford  an  oppor- 
tunity for  its  excitement  to  subside.  Happily, 
the  principles  of  justice  were  too  deeply  seated  in 
the  breast  of  the  nation  to  allow  of  their  success. 
The  triumph  of  humanity  was  delayed  for  a 
season,  but  its  victory  was  ultimately  more 
signal. 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Wilberforce,  on  this  occa- 
sion, was  every  way  worthy  of  his  cause.  It 
manifested  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
facts  of  the  case,  a  heart  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  principles  of  justice,  a  benevolence  as 
enlightened  as  it  was  pure,  and  an  indignation 
as  intense  as  it  was  free  from  acrimony. 

"The  debate  on  this  occasion,"  says  the  au- 
thor of  'Public  Characters,'  writing  in  1801, 
"  was  perhaps  the  most  eloquent  and  interesting 
that  was  ever  witnessed  in  the  British  senate. 
The  want  of  success  hitherto  seen;ed  to  have 
awakened  all  the  energies,  and  to  have  roused 
every  honorable  feeling,  of  which  the  human 
heart  is  capal>Ie. 


48  MEMOIR    OF 

"  Evils,  said  Mr.  Wilberforce,  "  were  con- 
spicuous everywhere  in  this  trade.  Never  was 
there  indeed  a  system  so  replete  with  wickedness 
and  cruelty.  To  whatever  part  of  it  we  turn  our 
eyes,  whether  to  Africa,  the  Middle  Passage,  or 
the  West  Indies,  we  can  find  no  comfort,  no 
satisfaction,  no  relief.  It  was  the  gracious  ordi- 
nance of  Providence,  both  in  the  natural  and 
moral  world,  that  good  should  often  arise  out  of 
evil.  Hurricanes  cleared  the  air ;  and  the  pro- 
pagation of  truth  was  promoted  by  persecution. 
Pride,  vanity  and  profusion  contributed  often,  in 
their  remoter  consequences,  to  the  happiness  of 
mankind.  In  common,  what  was  in  itself  evil 
and  vicious,  was  permitted  to  carry  along  with 
it  some  circumstances  of  palliation.  The  Arab 
was  hospitable ;  the  robber  brave.  We  did  not 
necessarily  find  cruelty  associated  with  fraud,  or 
meanness  with  injustice.  But  here  the  case  was 
far  otherwise.  It  was  the  prerogative  of  this 
detested  traffic  to  separate  from  evil  its  concomi- 
tant good,  and  to  reconcile  discordant  mischiefs. 
It  robbed  war  of  its  generosity  ;  it  deprived 
peace  of  its  security  ;  we  saw  in  it  the  vices 
of  polished  society,  without  its  knowledge  or  its 
comforts,  and  the  evils  of  barbarism,  without  its 
simplicity.     No  age,  no  sex,  no  rank,  no  condi- 


WILLIAM    WILBERFOKCE.  49 

tion,  was  exempt  from  the  fatal  influence  of  this 
wide-wasting  calamity.  Thus  it  attained  to  the 
fullest  measure  of  pure,  unmixed,  unsophisticated 
wickedness;  and,  scorning  all  competition  and 
comparison,  it  stood,  without  a  rival,  in  the 
secure,  undisputed  possession  of  its  detestable 
pre-eminence." 

An  attempt  was  made,  on  the  25th  of  April, 
to  alter  the  period  of  the  abolition  from  the  1st 
of  January,  1890,  to  the  1st  of  January,  1793. 
This  proposition  was  negatived  by  a  majority  of 
47;  but,  by  a  compromise,  the  time  was  subse- 
quently fixed  for  the  1st  of  January,  1796.  The 
bill,  however,  was  lost  in  the  upper  house. 

In  1794,  1795,  I79G,  1798,  and  1799,  Mr. 
Wilberforce  renewed  his  efforts,  but  without  suc- 
cess. The  house  appeared  to  grow  weary  of  the 
discussion,  and  the  country  at  large  to  have  lost 
somewiiat  of  its  former  zeal  and  vigor.  The 
indefatigable  Clarkson  was  compelled,  by  an 
enfeebled  frame,  to  remit  his  exertions.  Every- 
thing depended,  at  this  crisis,  on  the  decision 
of  Mr.  Wilberforce,  and  he  was  faithful  to  the 
occasion  ;  but  every  expedient  having  been  de- 
vised, and  every  form  which  the  measure  could 
assume,  having  been  put  before  the  house  and 
rejected,  Mr.  Wilberforce  and  his  friends  did  not 


50  MEMOIR   OF 

deem  it  advisable  to  bring  the  subject  again  into 
parliament,  till  some  new  circumstances  should 
favor  its  introduction. 

From  1799  to  the  year  1804,  he  contented 
himself  with  moving  for  certain  papers,  and  with 
assuring  the  house  that  he  had  not  grown  cool 
in  the  cause.  In  the  latter  year,  the  abolition 
committee  determined  on  renewed  exertions,  hav- 
ing increased  their  number  by  electing  James 
Stephen,  Zachary  Macauley,  Henry  Brougham, 
Robert  Grant,  William  Allen,  and  others,  mem- 
bers of  its  body. 

The  entrance  of  Irish  members  into  the  British 
parliament,  which  occurred  in  1804,  revived  the 
hopes  of  tiie  abolitionists.  Most  of  them  were 
known  to  be  friendly  to  the  cause,  and,  as  they 
were  generally  free  from  the  commercial  influ- 
ence which  had  perverted  the  views  of  many 
English  representatives,  the  support  of  all  was 
hoped  for.  Mr.  Wilberforce,  accordingly,  on  the 
30th  of  May,  moved  that  the  house  resolve  itself 
into  committee  ;  and  he  prefaced  his  motion  by 
one  of  the  most  impassioned  speeciies  ever  made 
within  its  walls.  We  have  generally  understood 
it  was  his  noblest  etTort. 

The  second  reading,  on  the  7th  of  June,  was 
carried  by  a  majority  of  100  to  42;  and  on  the 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  51 

27th  of  the  same  month,  the  bill  passed  its  last 
stage,  by  a  majority  of  69  to  36 ;  but  when  for- 
warded to  the  upper  house,  it  was  postponed,  on 
the  motion  of  Lord  Hawkesbury,  to  the  following 
session. 

In  1805,  it  was  again  introduced  by  Mr.  Wil- 
berforce,  with  every  prospect  of  success,  but  was 
unhappily  lost  in  the  commons  by  a  majority  of 
seven,  through  the  excessive  confidence  of  its 
friends.  It  appeared  that  no  fewer  than  nine 
members,  who  had  never  been  absent  once  in 
sixteen  years  when  it  was  agitated,  gave  way  to 
engagements  on  the  day  of  the  motion,  from  a 
belief  that  it  w-as  safe.  It  appeared,  also,  that 
out  of  the  great  number  of  Irish  members  who 
supported  it  in  the  former  year,  only  nine  were 
in  the  house  when  it  was  lost.  It  appeared,  also, 
that,  previous  to  this  event,  a  canvass,  more  im- 
portunate than  had  been  heard  of  on  any  former 
occasion,  had  been  made  among  the  latter,  by 
those  interested  in  the  continuance  of  the  trade.* 

But  the  period  at  length  had  arrived,  when 
this  great  question  was  to  be  decided. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Pitt,  in  January,  1S06, 
made  way  for  the  Fox  and  Grenville  administra- 

*  Clarksoii's  History. 


59  MEMOIR    OK 

tion,  and  the  question  was  immediately  ushered 
into  parliament  under  their  ministerial  auspices. 
In  May,  a  bill  was  introduced  tor  the  abolition 
of  the  foreign,  and  the  limitation  of  the  domestic 
slave-trade,  which  passed  both  houses  of  parlia- 
ment, and  received  the  royal  assent.  On  the 
10th  of  June,  Mr.  Fox  introduced  the  subject,  at 
the  special  request  of  Mr.  Wilbtjrforce,  in  doing 
which,  he  passed  a  high  eulogium  on  the  latter. 
"  Before,  sir,  I  proceed  to  state  the  grounds  on 
which  I  look  with  confidence  for  the  almost 
unanimous  countenance  of  the  house  in  this 
measure,  I  feel  myself  called  on  to  say  a  few 
words,  by  way  of  apology,  for  being  the  person 
to  come  forward  on  the  present  occasion.  For 
the  last  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of  niy  life,  I 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  uniformly  and  strenu- 
ously supporting  the  several  motions  made  by  a 
respectable  gentleman,  Mr.  Wilberforce,  who  has 
so  often,  by  his  meritorious  exertions  on  this 
subject,  attracted  tlie  applause  of  this  house,  and 
claimed  the  admiration  of  the  public.  During 
the  long  period  that  I  found  it  in  such  excellent 
hands,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  feel  tlie  slight- 
est disposition  to  take  it  out  of  them.  I  am  ^till 
of  the  same  opinion  ;  and  cannot  but  think  it 
would  have  been  much   better,  if  the  same  hon- 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  53 

orable  member  and  his  friends  had  retained  it  in 
their  own  hands ;  and  thoy  might  certainly  have 
depended  on  me,  and  those  with  whom  I  have 
the  honor  to  act,  for  the  same  ardent  support 
which  we  have  uniformly  given  them.  But,  sir, 
the  honorable  member  and  many  of  his  friends 
seemed  so  strongly  to  entertain  different  senti- 
ments on  that  point,  from  me,  that  I  submitted 
my  own  opinion  to  theirs,  and  now  assume  the 
task,  reluctantly  on  that  account,  but  on  every 
other,  most  gladly.  So  fully  am  I  impressed  with 
the  vast  importance  and  necessity  of  attaining 
what  will  be  the  oltject  of  my  motion  this  day, 
that  if,  during  the  almost  forty  years  that  I  have 
now  had  the  honor  of  a  seat  in  parliament,  I  had 
been  so  fortunate  as  to  accomplish  that,  and  that 
only,  I  should  think  I  had  done  enough,  and 
could  retire  from  public  life  with  comfort,  and 
conscious  satisfaction  that  I  had  done  my  duty." 
He  closed  his  speech  by  moving,  "That  this 
house,  considering  the  African  slave-trade  to  be 
contrary  to  the  principles  of  justice,  humanity 
and  policy,  will,  with  all  practicable  expedition, 
take  effectual  measures  for  the  abolition  of  the 
said  trade,  in  such  a  manner,  and  at  such  a 
period,  as  may  be  deemed  advisable,"  which 
being  carried  by  a  majority  of  114  to   15,  Mr. 


54  MEMUIR    OK 

Wilberforce  immediately  moved,  "That  an  hum- 
ble address  be  presented  to  his  majesty,  beseecii- 
ing  his  majesty  to  take  such  measures  as  in  his 
wisdom  he  shall  think  proper,  for  establishing, 
by  negotiation  with  foreign  powers,  a  concert 
and  agreement  for  abolishing  the  African  slave- 
trade,  and  for  affording  assistance,  mutually, 
towards  carrying  into  execution  any  regulations 
which  may  be  adopted  by  any  or  all  of  the  con- 
tracting parties,  for  accomplishing  their  common 
purpose  ;  assuring  his  majesty  that  this  house, 
feeling  the  justice  and  honor  of  the  British 
nation  to  be  deeply  and  peculiarly  involved  in 
the  great  object  they  have  in  view,  will  be  ready 
at  ail  times,  cheerfully  to  concur  in  giving  effect 
to  such  measures  as  his  majesty  may  see  fit  to 
adopt  for  its  attainment."  This  was  carried 
without  a  division. 

From  this  moment,  the  great  question  was 
considered  as  triumphant.  Some  apprehension, 
indeed,  was  awakened  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Fox, 
in  October,  180G.  He  had  been  among  the 
earliest,  most  consistent  and  zealous  of  the  par- 
liamentary advocates  of  the  abolition;  and  when 
in  office,  he  nobly  rcdectned  the  pledges  which 
he  had  given  in  opposition.  The  sacred  cause 
occupied  his  thoughts  amidst  the  struggles  and 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  i)i) 

pains  of  dissolution.  "Two  things,"  said  he,  on 
his  death-bed,  "  I  wish  earnestly  to  see  accom- 
plished— peace  with  Europe,  and  the  abolition 
of  the  slave-trade  ;  but  of  the  two,  I  wish  the 
latter." 

The  confidence  of  the  abolitionists  was  re- 
stored, by  Lord  Grenville  introducing,  on  the  2d 
of  January,  1807,  a  bill  for  the  abolition  of  the 
slave-trade  into  tlie  house  of  lords.  It  was  ulti- 
mately carried  through  both  houses,  although 
against  much  opposition  ;  Earl  Gray,  then  Lord 
Horwick,  distingui^^hiiig  himself  by  its  eloquent 
support  in  the  commons.  It  must  be  eminently 
gratifying  to  this  nobleman,  distinguished  alike 
by  the  unblemished  virtues  of  his  private  and 
public  life,  to  have  been  instrumental,  not  only 
in  the  abolition  of  the  African  trade,  but  also  in 
the  extinction  of  slavery  itself  The  blessing  of 
many  ready  to  perish  will  descend  on  the  admin- 
istratjon  over  which  he  so  honorably  presides  ; 
and  the  enlightened  tribute  of  a  nation's  praise 
will  solace  and  cheer  his  spirit  amid  the  increas- 
ing infirmities  of  age.  It  is  a  singular  event, 
and  highly  to  the  honor  of  his  political  connec- 
tions, that  the  same  party  which  achieved  the 
former  triumph  has  now  the  latter  also.  Had 
they  conferred  no  other  benefit  on  their  nation 


56  MEMOIR    OF 

and  species,  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade,  and 
the  extinction  of  British  colonial  slavery,  would 
have  secured  them  the  admiration  and  gratitude 
of  posterity. 

Though  the  bill  which  Lord  Grcnville  intro- 
duced was  pressed  forward  with  the  utmost  pos- 
sible expedition,  the  friends  of  humanity  and 
religion  were  far  from  being  free  from  anxiety. 
Even  after  it  had  passed  both  houses,  its  fate 
was  regarded  as  uncertain  ;  for  the  king,  being 
displeased  with  his  ministers,  had  determined  on 
their  dismission.  But  the  force  of  public  opinion 
j>revailed,  and  the  royal  assent  was  given  by 
commission  to  the  bill.  "This  event,"  says 
Mr.  Clarkson,  "  took  place  the  next  day  ;  for 
on  Wednesday,  the  '^^th,  at  half  past  eleven 
in  the  morning,  his  majesty's  message  was  de- 
livered to  the  different  members  of  it,  that  they 
were  then  to  wait  upon  him,  to  deliver  up  the 
seals  of  their  offices.  It  then  appeared  that  a 
commission  for  the  royal  assent  to  this  bill, 
among  others,  had  been  obtained.  This  com- 
mission was  instantly  opened  by  tlie  lord  chan- 
cellor, (Erskine,)  who  was  accompanied  by  the 
lords  Holland  and  Auckland  ;  and  as  the  clock 
struck  twelve,  just  when  the  sun  was  in  its  me- 
ridian splendor  to  witness  this  august  act,  this 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCK.  57 

establishment  of  a  Magna  Charta  for  Africa  in 
Britain,  and  to  sanction  it  by  its  most  vivid  and 
glorious  beams,  it  was  completed.  The  cere- 
mony being  over,  the  seals  of  the  respective 
offices  were  delivered  up  ;  so  that  the  execution 
of  this  commission  was  the  last  act  of  the  admin- 
istration of  lord  Grenville — an  administration 
which,  on  account  of  its  virtuous  exertions  in 
behalf  of  the  oppressed  African  race,  will  pass 
to  posterity,  living  through  successive  genera- 
tions in  the  love  and  gratitude  of  the  most  vir- 
tuous of  mankind." 

Thus  ended,  after  a  continuance  for  twenty 
years,  one  of  the  most  glorious  contests  ever 
carried  on  in  any  age  or  country — a  contest,  not 
of  brutal  violence,  but  of  reason — a  contest  be- 
tween those  who  felt  deeply  for  the  happiness 
and  the  honor  of  their  fellow  creatures,  and  those 
who,  through  vicious  custom  and  the  impulse  of 
avarice,  had  trampled  under  foot  the  sacred 
rights  of  their  nature,  and  had  even  attempted 
to  efface  ail  title  to  the  divine  imnge  frorti  their 
minds. 

It  is  impossible,  at  tlie  present  day,  dulv  to 
estimate  the  satisfaction  and  joy  with  wiiich  Mr. 
Wilberforce  must  have  witnessed  this  consum- 
mation of  his  labors.     He  had  borne  the  burden 


68  MEMOIR    OF 

and  the  heat  of  the  day  ;  he  had  watched  over 
the  cause  with  more  than  parental  solicitude  ; 
had  nurtured  its  infancy,  guided  its  youth,  and 
won  for  it  a  nation's  sympathy  and  support ;  he 
had  witnessed  the  desertion  of  some  of  its  earliest 
advocates,  and  had  been  so  frequently  defeated 
as  to  require  far  more  than  ordinary  firmness  to 
sustain  its  vigor  and  determination  of  purpose. 
But  he  was  steadfast  and  immovable,  and  the 
good  providence  of  God  ultimately  crowned  his 
labors  with  success.  The  mere  politician  may 
exult  at  the  success  of  his  cause,  but  the  joy  of 
Mr.  Wilberforce  was  that  of  the  philanthropist 
and  christian.  He  had  succeeded,  amidst  in- 
credible difficulties,  in  lessening  the  amount  of 
human  misery,  and  in  averting  from  his  country 
the  displeasure  of  that  God  who  is  a  refuge  to 
the  poor,  a  refuge  to  the  needy  in  his  distress. 
In  the  successful  termination  of' his  efforts,  he 
beheld  an  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  faithful, 
and  an  omen  of  good  to  the  future  generations  of 
men.  Hence  his  piety  and  his  patriotism  alike 
ministered  to  his  joy.  The  principles  on  which 
he  had  acted  were  but  imperfectly  known  to  the 
men  of  his  day.  They  proljably  imagined  him 
to  be  altogetlier  such  an  one  as  thtMntelves,  and 
had  therefore  referred    his   conduct   to  secular 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  59 

ambition,  or  to  mere  benevolence  of  heart.  But 
his  main  impulse  had  been  drawn  from  heaven  ; 
and  his  resort,  in  every  season  of  perplexity  and 
gloom,  had  been  to  the  throne  of  his  God  and 
Father.  Sustained  in  his  labors  by  an  enlight- 
ened conscience,  he  could  not  but  rejoice  in 
their  successful  termination.  The  character  of 
Christianity  was  thus  relieved  from  reproach, 
and  some  promise  afforded  of  yet  brighter  days 
to  the  degraded  tribes  of  Africa. 

The  feelings  of  Mr.  Wilberforce  on  this  occa- 
sion were  eloquently  alluded  to  by  Sir  Samuel 
Romilly. 

"  But  sir,"  said  that  distinguished  statesman, 
"if  such  be  the  feelings  of  those  who  have  borne 
only  a  part  in  this  transaction,  what  must  be 
the  feelings  of  my  honorable  friend  Mr.  Wilber- 
force ?  What  is  there  in  the  wide  range  of  hu- 
man ambition  which  could  afford  pleasures  so 
pure,  gratification  so  exalted,  as  he  must  enjoy  ? 
When  I  look  at  the  man  at  the  head  of  the 
French  monarchy,  surrounded  as  he  is  with  all 
the  pomp  of  power,  and  all  the  pride  of  victory, 
distributing  kingdoms  to  his  family,  and  princi- 
palities to  his  followers;  seeming,  as  he  sits  upon 
his  throne,  to  have  reached  the  summit  of  human 
ambition,  the  pinnacle  of  earthly  happiness;  and 


(iO  MEMOIR    OF 

when  I  follow  him  into  his  closet,  or  to  his  bed, 
and  contemplate  the  anguish  with  which  his 
solitude  must  be  tortured,  by  recollections  of  the 
blood  he  has  spilt,  and  the  oppressions  he  has 
committed ;  and  when  I  compare  with  these 
pangs  of  remorse  the  feelings  which  must  accom- 
pany my  honorable  friend  from  this  house  to  his 
home,  after  the  vote  of  this  night  shall  have 
accomplished  the  object  of  his  humane  and  un- 
ceasing labors — when  he  shall  retire  into  the 
bosom  of  his  delighted  and  happy  family — when 
he  shall  lay  himself  down  on  his  bed,  reflecting 
on  the  innumerable  voices  that  will  be  raised  in 
every  quarter  of  the  world  to  bless  his  name, — 
how  much  more  enviable  his  lot,  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  having  preserved  so  many  millions  of  his 
fellow  creatures,  than  that  of  the  man  with  whom 
I  have  compared  him,  on  a  tlirone  to  which 
he  has  waded  through  slaughter  and  oppression ! 
Who  will  not  be  proud  to  concur  with  my  hon- 
ored friend  in  promoting  the  greatest  act  of 
national  benefit,  and  securing  to  the  Africans  the 
greatest  blessing  which  God  has  ever  put  in  the 
power  of  man  to  confer  on  his  fellow  creatures?" 
We  cannot  read  the  hi.-tory  of  this  struggle, 
without  feeling  the  encouragement  which  it 
affords  to  every  virtuous  and   benevolent  deed. 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  61 

Greater  difficulties  can  scarcely  be  conceived, 
than  those  with  which  the  abolitionists  had  to 
contend.  Their  whole  project  was  regarded  as 
chimerical  ;  and  every  means  which  wealth, 
power  and  dishonesty  could  devise,  were  em- 
ployed against  them.  The  evil  to  be  remedied 
was  practised  at  the  distance  of  some  thousands 
of  miles  ;  and  those  who  had  witnessed  its  enor- 
mities possessed,  for  the  most  part,  a  pecuniary 
interest  in  their  continuance.  It  was  well  known 
that  the  highest  personage  in  the  state  was 
opposed  to  their  views,  and  that  the  revenues  of 
the  nation,  and  the  prosperity  of  its  commerce, 
were  extensively  regarded  as  threatened  by  them. 
Undeterred,  however,  by  these  circumstances, 
the  friends  of  humanity  determined  on  their 
course,  and  the  rectitude  of  their  object  gave 
them  success.  Their  labors  constituted  the  seed 
from  which  an  abundant  harvest  has  been  gath- 
ered in  our  day.  That  the  great  patriarch  of 
the  cause  should  have  survived  to  witness  the 
struggle  which  was  to  crown  with  victory  the 
labors  of  his  life,  must  be  gratifying  to  every 
benevolent  mind.  Amid  the  decay  of  nature, 
his  spirit  must  have  been  refreshed  by  the  scene 
he  witnessed,  and  the  language  of  his  heart  have 
been  similar  to  that  of  Simeon,  "  Lord,  now 
6 


62  MEMOIR    OF 

lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine 
eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation." 

In  order  to  bring  the  history  of  the  abolition 
to  a  close,  I  have  omitted  some  circumstances, 
which  materially  affected  the  happiness,  and 
developed  the  character  of  Mr.  Wilberforce. 
These  I  now  proceed  to  notice.  In  1797,  he 
married  Miss  Barbara  Spooner,  the  daughter  of 
an  opulent  banker  in  Birmingham,  who  survives 
him.  Of  their  six  children,  the  four  sons  are 
living.  Two  of  them  are  clergymen  of  the 
church  of  England.  The  Rev.  Samuel  Wilber- 
force holds  the  living  of  Bright^on,  Isle  of  Wight, 
presented  to  him  by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  ; 
and  the  Rev.  Robert  Wilberforce,  the  third  ^on, 
that  of  East  Farleigh,  near  Maidstone,  on  the 
presentation  of  the  Lord  Chancellor. 

This  year  was  also  di-tinguished  in  the  life 
of  Mr.  Wilberforce,  by  the  publication  of  his 
"Practical  View  of  the  Prevailing  Religious 
System  of  Professed  Christians." 

The  value  of  the  service  which  he  rendered 
by  this  work  cannot  be  estimated,  without  some 
knowledge  of  tiie  circumstances  of  England  at 
this  period.  The  rapid  decluie  of  religion  at  the 
close  of  the  seventeenth,  and  during  the  first 
half  of  the   eighteenth   century,  had   awakened 


WIl.LTAM     WII.BERFORrE.  6J? 

many  serious  apprelienslons  in  the  more  thought- 
ful and  pious  of  all  classes,  respecting  the  future 
fate  of  our  country.  There  has  been  much  dis- 
cussion about  the  causes  of  this  decline,  which 
has  exhibited  far  more  of  the  spleen  of  party 
than  of  a  sober  and  honest  inquiry  after  truth. 
The  severe  and  unnatural  restraint  under  which 
vice  and  irreligion  were  held,  during  the  time  of 
the  Commonwealth,  was  followed  by  a  ruinous 
reaction  on  the  return  of  the  Stuarts.  The  stern 
morality  of  the  puritans  had  put  vice  to  shame, 
and  their  legislation  had  succeeded  in  giving 
more  of  the  appearance  of  religion  to  the  nation 
than  it  had  ever  previously  borne.  But  there 
was  much  of  hypocrisy  in  this ;  hypocrisy,  be 
it  remembered,  on  the  part  of  the  enemies  of 
the  puritans,  though  conjmonly  charged  on  them- 
selves. These  high-minded  and  illustrious  men, 
who  protected  at  once  the  ark  of  our  liberty  and 
the  temple  of  our  God,  expected  to  coerce  the 
public  mind  ;  and,  attempting  this,  they  failed. 
They  held  it  under  a  restraint  which  was  felt  to 
be  violent  and  irksome,  and  we  need  not,  there- 
fore, wonder  at  the  eagerness  with  whicli  vice 
was  f  iHowed,  when  once  this  yoke  was  broken. 
Tlie  uiilialloued  passions  w  hich  had  previously 
been  refused   indulgence,  immediately  sought  to 


64  MEMOIR    OF 

compensate  themselves  for  the  mortification  to 
which  they  had  rehjctantly  submitted.  The  re- 
turn of  Charles  proved  the  greatest  moral  evil 
which  our  country  had  experienced.  Unprinci- 
pled and  licentious,  he  violated  the  common 
decencies  of  life,  and  gave  sanction  and  currency 
to  vice,  which  has  painfully  moulded  our  national 
character.  Religion  became,  in  consequence,  a 
by-word  and  reproach;  her  most  zealous  minis- 
ters were  silenced  ;  her  doctrines  were  made  the 
subjects  of  profane  banter,  and  her  altars  were 
polluted  by  the  approach  of  men  of  secular  ambi- 
tion, or  of  unholy  lusts.  The  light  of  truth  was 
thus  gradually  diminished:  and  God,  incensed  at 
the  apostacy  of  the  nation,  withdrew  the  cheering 
tokens  of  his  presence.  "  The  Gallican  church," 
remarks  the  late  Rev.  Robert  Hall,  and  the  pas- 
sage is  equally  applicable  to  the  case  before  us, 
*'  no  doubt,  looked  upon  it  as  a  signal  triumph, 
when  she  prevailed  on  Louis  the  Fourteenth  to 
repeal  the  edict  of  Nantes,  and  to  suppress  the 
proiestant  religion.  But  what  was  the  conse- 
quence? Where  shall  we  look,  after  this  period, 
for  her  Fenelons  and  her  Pascals — where  for 
the  distinguished  monuments  of  piety  and  learn- 
ing which  were  the  glory  of  her  better  days  ? 
As  for  piety,  she  perceived  she  had  no  occasion 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  65 

for  it,  when  there  was  no  lustre  of  christianiioli- 
ness  surrounding  her  ;  nor  for  learning,  when  she 
had  no  longer  any  opponents  to  confute,  or  any 
controversies  to  maintain.  She  felt  herself  at 
liberty  to  become  as  ignorant,  as  secular,  as  irre- 
ligious as  she  pleased  ;  and,  amid  the  silence 
and  darkness  she  had  created  around  her,  she 
drew  the  curtains,  and  retired  to  rest.  The  ac- 
cession of  numbers  she  gained  by  suppressing 
her  opponents,  was  like  the  small  extension  of 
length  a  body  acquires  by  death  ;  the  feeble  re- 
mains of  life  were  extinguished  ;  and  she  lay  a 
putrid  corpse  and  a  public  nuisance,  filling  the 
air  with  pestilential  exhalations."  Such  was  the 
state  of  things  when  Whitfield  and  Wesley  com- 
menced their  labors.  The  character  of  those 
labors,  and  the  degree  of  success  which  accom- 
panied them,  are  matters  of  history,  and  need 
not,  therefore,  be  dwelt  on  in  this  place.  Their 
influence  on  the  hierarchy  was,  for  a  time,  very 
limited.  But  few  of  the  clergy  sympathized  with 
their  views,  or  emulated  tiieir  zeal  ;  while  the 
higher  and  more  influential  of  their  number  em- 
braced every  opportunity  of  holding  up  these  holy 
men  to  the  contempt  and  reprobation  of  the  pro- 
fane and  formalist.  It  consequently  followed, 
that  while  the  lower  and  middle  classes  of  so- 
6» 


66  MEMOIR    OP 

ciety  were  materially  benefited  by  these  apostolic 
laborers,  the  highest  grade  was  wholly  unaffected 
by  them.  At  no  period  of  our  history  was  this 
order  of  society  more  thoroughly  irreligious  than 
at  the  close  of  the  last  century.  They  were  ut- 
terly destitute  of  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  and 
had  so  mistaken  its  nature  as  to  substitute  in  its 
place  an  unmeaning  and  pernicious  system  of 
external  rites.  "  The  fact  is,  that  through  the 
secularity  and  irreligion  of  the  clergy,  evangeli- 
cal truth  was  nearly  effaced  from  the  minds  of 
the  members  of  the  Establishment,  and  in  the 
higher  ranks,  and  that  an  indolent  acquiescence 
in  established  formularies  had  succeeded  to  the 
ardor  with  which  the  great  principles  of  religion 
were  embraced  at  the  Reformation.  Such  was 
the  state  of  the  public  mind,  that  in  a  contest 
between  orthodoxy  and  heresy,  the  former  proved 
triumphant,  merely  because  it  was  already  estab- 
lished, and  had  the  plea  of  antiquity  and  pre- 
scription in  its  favor." 

In  this  lamentable  state  of  things,  it  was  of 
the  highest  importance  that  some  religious  advo- 
cate should  step  forth,  qualified  by  his  rank, 
character  and  talents,  to  command  the  respect, 
and  to  effect  the  instruction  of  the  higher  orders. 
"To   stem   the   torrent  of  infidelity,"  remarks 


WILLIAM    WILBERPORCE.  67 

the  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  in  an  introductory  essay 
to  the  'Practical  View,'  published  some  years 
since,  "  in  the  higher  and  middle  classes  of  so- 
ciety— to  rouse  the  national  establishment  to  the 
holy  efforts  for  which  it  was  so  well  adapted — to 
restore  the  standard  of  that  pure  and  vital  Chris- 
tianity on  which  all  subjection  to  law,  and  all 
obedience  from  motives  of  conscience,  and  all 
real  morality  and  piety  ultimately  depend — to 
sow  anew  the  principles  of  loyalty,  contentment, 
peace,  holiness,  deeply  and  permanently  in  the 
minds  of  men — to  rescue,  in  a  word,  our  country 
from  impending  ruin,  and  render  her  a  blessing 
to  the  nations, — to  these  high  ends,  something 
more  was  decidedly  wanting. 

"The  writings  of  statesmen  did  not  meet  the 
ca«e.  They  excited,  indeed,  a  just  horror  of 
atheism  and  insubordination ;  they  painted  the 
miseries  of  revolutionary  frenzy  in  its  true  colors; 
they  vindicated  the  national  creed  in  general, 
and  the  national  clergy  ;  they  enforced  the  im- 
portance of  Christianity,  in  its  morals  and  its 
influence  on  the  good  order  of  society  ;  but  all 
this  was  partial  and  ineffective.  There  was  too 
much  of  personality  and  acrimony  in  their  stric- 
tures— too  much  of  worldly  policy  :  they  under- 
stood not  the  full  extent  of  the   malady  which 


68  MEMOIR    OF 

they  treated,  nor  did  they  rightly  conceive  of  the 
nature  of  that  heart-felt  Christianity  which  was 
alone  capable  of  producing  a  cure. 

"  In  this  stnte  of  things — the  storm  of  the 
French  revolution  still  raging — an  open  renunci- 
ation of  Christianity  just  made  in  a  great  nation — 
Europe  rent  asunder  with  war,  which,  after  a 
duration  of  four  or  five  years,  seemed  farther 
than  ever  from  a  close — the  church  feeble,  and 
full  of  apprehension — the  ministers  of  the  state, 
and  the  legislature,  overwhelmed  with  schemes 
of  defence  abroad  and  regulatif)n  at  home — the 
minds  of  thoughtful  men  portending  calamities 
— untold  difficulties  thickening  around — in  this 
state  of  tilings,  who  could  be  found  to  stand 
in  the  gap?  who  could  rise  with  tlie  necessary 
talent  and  reputation  to  calm  the  distracted  peo- 
ple ?  who  could  mildly,  and  yet  auilioritatively, 
interpose  between  the  clamors  of  party  1  who 
could  recall  men,  with  a  bold  and  friendly  voice, 
to  the  true  source  of  their  salvation,  and  the 
adequate  remedy  for  tlieir  troubles  ?  One  man 
at  length  appeared.  Our  author  was  the  hon- 
ored individual.  He  undertook  the  task,  uncon- 
scious to  himself  of  the  extent  of  service  he  was 
rendering  his  country.  He  possessed  all  the 
various  natural  advantages  required  for  such  an 


WILLIAM    Wn.BERFORCE.  69 

emergency ;  and  he  was  soon  acknowledged  to 
be  the  person  who  could  speak  with  effect,  at 
such  a  moment,  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and 
who  could  best  make  an  open  confession  of  its 
genuine  doctrines  before  his  fellow  statesmen, 
and  appeal  effectually  to  their  hearts  and  con- 
sciences, as  to  the  necessity  of  a  return  to  the 
faith  and  piety  of  their  fathers." 

The  design  of  Mr.  Wilberforce  was  strictly 
what  his  title-page  denotes.  He  does  not  attempt 
to  establish  the  truth  of  Christianity,  but  assum- 
ing this,  he  aims  to  exhibit  her  true  form  and 
features  to  his  countrymen.  He  does  not  contend 
with  the  sceptic  or  infidel,  but  with  the  nominal 
christian.  Analyzing  the  prevalent  system  of 
religion,  he  shows  it  to  be  essentially  defective, 
wanting  many  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  chris- 
tian revelation,  and  utterly  inadequate  to  the  high 
purpose  of  man's  recovery  unto  God.  He  takes 
the  Bible  as  his  standard,  and,  acting  on  the 
principle  of  protestantism,  brings  the  popular 
faith  to  this  test.  "  The  main  object  which  he 
has  in  view,"  Mr.  Wilberforce  states  in  his  intro- 
duction, "is  not  to  convince  the  sceptic,  or  to 
answer  the  arguments  of  persons  who  avowedly 
oppose  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  our  religion, 
but  to  point  out  the  scanty  and  erroneous  system 


70  Mi-.Moin  OF 

of  the  bulk  of  those  who  heloivT  to  the  class  of 
orthodox  christinns,  and  to  contra.-t  their  defective 
4schenie  with  a  representation  of  what  the  author 
apprehends  to  be  real  Christianity.  Often  has 
it  filled  him  with  deep  concern,  to  observe  in 
this  description  of  persons,  scarcely  any  distinct 
■knowledge  of  the  real  nature  and  principles  of 
the  religion  which  they  profess." 

It  is  accurately  remarked  by  the  Bishop  of 
Calcutta,  in  his  introductory  essay  to  the  "  Prac- 
tical View,"  that  "there  is  nothing  more  remark- 
able in  the  style  and  manner  of  the  work,  than 
the  skill  in  debate,  the  parliamentary  tact,  if  we 
may  so  speak,  which  is  apparent  throughout. 
You  discern  in  it  everywhere  tlie  ninrked  effects 
of  the  author's  public  life.  You  cannot  read 
three  pages  witliout  feeling  tliat  tlie  writer  is  in 
the  midst  of  your  very  thoughts  and  feelings  :  all 
is  business — all  is  a  vivid  delineation  of  actual 
life — all  is  directly  aimed  at  tlie  heart.  It  is  a 
persuasive  address  to  his  fellow  .statesmen  and 
•countrymen,  in  which  he  kindlcH  with  his  great 
topics,  gains  upon  your  judgirient  and  heart  as 
he  proceeds,  and  leaves  you  at  hst  under  the 
impressions  produced  by  a  sincere  and  ;i(recting 
orator,  rather  than  of  a  writer  or  a  controversial- 
ist.    You  see  in  it  the  hand  of  a  master,  used  to 


WILLIAM    WILUEKFOUCE.  71 

State  the  objections  of  an  opponent,  not  only 
fairly,  but  in  the  very  words  that  such  an  oppo- 
nent would  employ  ;  yon  see  tlse  skill  of  a  legis- 
lator, compelled  to  be  on  the  watch,  aware  that 
any,  the  least  slip  would  be  exposed,  and  trained 
to  a  popular,  commanding,  and  yet  measured  way 
of  stating  things.  No  adversary  is  outraged;  no 
personal  feelings  are  wounded;  no  real  difficul- 
ties extenuated  or  denied  :  but  all  is  open,  and 
manly,  and  conciliatory.  Almost  every  imagina- 
ble concession  is  made  on  each  topic.  The  ob- 
jections are  stated  at  such  length,  and  with  so 
much  justice,  that  you  tremble  as  you  are  read- 
ing them,  lest  a  satisfactory  answer  should  not  be 
given  ;  and  yet,  after  repeated  admissions,  limi- 
tations, cautions,  apologies,  every  one  of  them 
most  apparently  kind  and  sincere,  the  blow  is 
at  last  struck  so  hard,  and  with  so  much  truth 
of  aim,  as  to  fall  with  irresistible  force..  We 
are  not  aware  that  we  ever  re:id  any  book  in 
which  everything  was  so  fairly,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  so  fully  stated.  No  reader  has  to  complain 
of  any  material  misrepresentation.  The  whole 
habit  of  the  author's  public  life  seems  to  have 
been  brought  to  bear,  in  this  benevolent  and 
faithful  appeal  to  his  country.  Seldom,  indeed, 
has  such  a  talent  for  debate,  a. id  such  an  accu- 


72  MEMOIR    UF 

rate  knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  been  united 
with  such  a  delicate  and  friendly  attention  to 
the  feelings  of  others,  and  such  a  force  of  per- 
suasion and  authority  of  truth. 

"There  is,  further,  a  warmth  in  the  style  of 
the  work,  which  adds  to  its  attractions.  It  bears 
all  the  marks  of  having  been  composed  after 
years  of  deliberate  preparation,  indeed,  as  to  the 
main  topics,  and  a  thorough  faculty  of  discus- 
sion, acquired  in  the  best  school  of  eloquence, 
in  just  that  sort  of  pressure  and  hurry  from 
the  demands  of  public  duties,  which  lend  it  a 
naturalness  and  warmth,  and  generous  urgency, 
which  are  best  adapted  to  gain  its  end.  It  is  a 
book  which  was  poured  out,  if  we  may  so  speak, 
between  two  sessions  of  parliament.  It  is  the 
lively  and  urgent  expose  of  his  views  of  Chris- 
tianity, made  by  a  statesman  on  a  sudden  im- 
pulse,-to  the  vast  influential  body  of  legislators 
and  men  of  the  world  among  whom  he  was  act- 
ing his  part,  and  whom  he  had  neither  the  oppor- 
tunity nor  the  leisure  of  acquainting,  by  any 
other  means,  with  the  true  character  of  those 
religious  principles  by  which  he  wished  to  govern 
all  his  own  conduct,  and  to  which  he  would 
reduce  the  wandering  and  unsettled  notions  of 
those  with  whom  he  habitually  conversed. 


UILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  73 

The  whole  consequences  of  this  publication 
will  not  be  known  until  the  records  of  this  world 
are  opened  at  the  bar  of  God.  One  instance  of 
its  usefulness  is  too  interesting  to  be  omitted. 
It  is  recorded,  in  the  Life  of  the  Rev.  Legh 
Richmond,  that,  shortly  after  he  had  entered  on 
his  ministerial  charge  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  one 
of  his  college  friends,  to  whom  a  near  relative 
had  sent  the  "  Practical  View,"  forwarded  the 
work  to  i\Ir.  Richmond,  requesting  him  to  exam- 
ine it,  and  to  report  his  opinion  of  its  contents. 
The  work  thus  incidentally  introduced  was  the 
means  of  effecting  an  entire  change  in  the  views 
and  habits  of  Mr.  Richmond.  It  had  been  sent 
to  him  by  a  thoughtless  friend,  in  order  to  relieve 
himself  from  the  irksome  task  of  its  perusal;  but 
it  proved  mighty,  through  God,  to  the  pulling 
down  of  strong  holds.  Speaking  of  his  son  Wil- 
bertorce,  Mr.  Richmond  remarks,  "  He  was  bap- 
tized by  the  name  of  Wilberforce,  in  consequence 
of  my  personal  friendship  with  that  individual, 
whose  name  long  has  been,  and  ever  will  be, 
allied  to  all  that  is  able,  amiable,  and  truly  chris- 
tian. That  gentleman  had  already  accepted  the 
<^>tlice  of  sponsor  to  one  of  my  daughters;  but 
the  subsequent  birth  of  this  boy  afforded  me  the 
additional  satisfaction  of  more  familiarly  associat- 
7 


74  Mr.MOIR    OF 

ing  liis  name  with  that  of  my  family.  But  it 
was  not  the  tie  of  ordinary  friendship,  nor  the 
veneration  which,  in  common  with  multitudes,  I 
felt  for  the  name  of  Wilberforce,  which  induced 
me  to  give  tliat  name  to  my  child:  there  had,  for 
many  years  past,  subsisted  a  tie  between  myself 
and  that  much-loved  friend,  of  a  higher  and  more 
sacred  character  than  any  other  which  earth  can 
afford.  I  feel  it  to  be  a  debt  of  gratitude,  which 
I  owe  to  God  and  to  man,  to  take  this  affecting 
opportunity  of  stating,  that  to  the  unsought  and 
unexpected  introduction  of  Mr.  Wilberforce's 
book  on  'Practical  Christianity,'  I  owe,  throtirrh 
God's  mercy,  the  first  sacred  impression  wliicli  1 
ever  received,  as  to  the  spiritual  nature  of  the 
gospel  system,  tiie  vital  cliaracter  of  personal  re- 
ligion, the  corruption  of  the  human  heart,  and 
the  way  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ.  As  a  young 
minister,  recently  ordained,  and  just  entrusted 
with  the  charge  of  two  parishes  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  I  had  commenced  my  labors  too  much  in 
the  spirit  of  the  world,  and  founded  my  public 
instructions  on  the  erroneous  notions  which  pre- 
vailed among  mv  academical  and  literarv  asso- 
ciates. The  scriptural  principles  stated  in  the 
'Practical  View,'  convinced  me  of  my  error, 
led  me  to  the  study  of  the  scriptures  with  an  earn- 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCK.  .  75 

estness  to  which  I  had  hitherto  been  a  stranger, 
humbled  my  heart,  and  brought  me  to  seek  the 
love  and  ble^.-^ing  of  that  Saviour,  who  alone  can 
afford  a  peace  whicli  the  world  cannot  give. 
Through  the  studv  of  this  book,  I  was  induced 
to  examine  the  writings  of  the  British  and  foreign 
reformers.  I  saw  the  coincidence  of  their  doc- 
trines wiih  those  of  the  scriptures,  and  those 
which  the  word  of  God  taught  rae  to  be  essential 
to  the  welfare  of  myself  and  my  flock.  I  know 
too  well  what  has  passed  within  my  heart,  for 
now  a  long  period  of  time,  not  to  feel  and  to 
confess  that  to  this  incident  I  was  indebted, 
originally,  for  those  solid  views  of  Christianity, 
on  which  I  rest  my  hope  for  time  and  eternity. 
May  I  not,  then,  call  the  honored  author  of  that 
book  my  spiritual  father?  and  if  my  spiritual 
father,  therefore  my  best  earthly  friend.  The 
wish  to  connect  his  name  with  my  own  was 
natural  and  justifiable.  It  was  a  lasting  memo- 
rial oftl'.e  most  important  transaction  of  my  life; 
it  still  lives  amid  the  tenderness  of  present  emo- 
tions, as  a  signal  of  endearment  and  gratitude  ; 
and  I  trust  its  character  is  imperishable." 

^Ir.  Wilberfoice  continued  to  represent  the 
county  of  York  until  1S1*2,  from  which  period  to 
the  clo-e  of  his  parliamentary  life,  about  1825, 


<6  ME.Moiu   or 

he  was  returned  by  Lord  Caltiiorp  for  tlie  boroufrli 
of  Bramber.  He  was  a  frequent  speaker  in  the 
house,  but  he  did  not  take  that  prominent  ])art 
in  its  business  whicli  he  had  fornrierly  done.  In 
1813,  on  the  renewal  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany's charter,  he  gave  his  most  ftrcnuoti?  i^up- 
port  to  the  cause  of  christian  rnis,-ion?,  then 
represented  as  inconsistent  with  the  preservation 
of  our  Eastern  territories,  and  happily  succeeded 
in  throwing  open  these  vast  dependencies  of  the 
empire  to  the  free  entrance  of  christian  truth.  In 
1816,  he  introduced  and  carried  his  "Registry 
Bill,"  the  object  of  wliich  was  to  render  the  abo- 
lition of  the  slave-trade  effectual,  by  preventing 
an  illicit  importation  of  Africans.  This  was  vio- 
lently opposed  by  the  colonists  and  their  partisans 
in  this  country,  but  was  ably  defended  by  Mr. 
Wilberforce  in  parliament,  and  by  Mr.  Stephen 
from  the  press.  It  was  evident  that  sonic  such 
measure  was  absolutely  necessary,  to  pi  event  a 
systematic  and  extensive  violation  of  the  law. 

A  few  years  afterwards,  Mr.  Wilberforce  pub- 
lished "An  Appeal  to  the  Religion,  .lustice,  and 
Humanity  of  the  Inhabitants  fif  the  British  Em- 
pire, in  behalf  of  the  Negro  Slaves  in  the  West 
Indies."  His  undiminished  interest  in  the  wel- 
fare of  this  unhappy  class,  the  strong  conviction 


MIM.IAM    WII.BI'.IUORCE.  77 

of  duty  which  impelled  him  to  act  on  their  behalf, 
and  the  consistency  of  hi-;  present  views  with  his 
former  professions,  are  sliown  throughout  this 
pamphlet,  in  a  strain  of  mild  and  persuasive  elo- 
quence. It  is  particularly  important,  as  showing 
that  the  abolitionists  had,  from  the  first,  contem- 
plated the  extinction  of  slavery  as  the  ultimate 
reward  of  their  labors  ;  and  will  be  read  with  in- 
terest in  future  years,  as  the  last  public  effort  of 
an  aged  philanthropist  to  arouse  the  conscience 
and  benevolent  sympathies  of  a  nation. 

Notwithstanding  the  transparent  integrity  and 
])eiievolence  of  Mr.  Wilberforce,  many  attempts 
were  made  by  the  unprincipled  abettors  of  the 
system  he  attacked,  to  injure  his  reputation. 
Defeated  in  the  field  of  honorable  debate,  they 
have  endeavored  to  bring  his  character  and  pro- 
ceedings into  suspicion,  by  propagating  false  and 
calumnious  reports.  One  of  these  gave  occasion 
to  the  following  note,  addressed  to  my  highly 
respected  friend  and  ministering  brother,  the 
Rev.  William  Knibb,   missionary,  from  Jamaica. 

East  Fareleigh,   rear  Maidstone,  } 
2'3d  ^'ov.  1«32.  5 

Mr  Dear  Sir  : 

I  very  gladly  authorize  you  to  give  the  flattest 
contradiction  possible  to  the  statement  you  mentioned, 
that,  "  previously  to  my  endeavors  to  effect  the  abolition 


76  MEMOTR    OF 

of  the  Blave-trade,  or  the  extinction  of  slavery,  1  had 
sold  my  slaves."  The  truth  is,  that  neither  I,  nor  any 
of  my  family  possessed  a  single  slave,  or  had  any  con- 
cern with  slavery.  1  cannot  conceive  liow  such  a  report 
could  originate ;  and  surely  the  gentleman  wlio  lias 
assisted  in  circulating  such  a  rumor,  must  have  tliounht 
it  strange  indeed,  if  such  a  charge  against  me  could  be 
truly  urged,  that,  as  the  printed  debates  of  tiie  two 
houses  will  show,  I  should  have  gone  on  pleading  for 
twenty  years  against  the  slivc-trade,  without  the  circum- 
stance being  mentioned.  I  rejoice  to  hear  from  you, 
that  you  proceed  successfully  in  your  sacred  warfare, 
for  so  I  must  really  term  it,  and  remain,  with  esteem 
and  regard, 

My  deir  sir,  very  siiictrrly  your-, 

W.   Wii.nERrnncK. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  late  Queen  Caroline,  he 
labored  to  avert  those  revolting  discu!^sioIls,  by 
which  such  outrage  was  done  to  public  morals. 
For  this  purpose,  he  moved  in  parliament  an 
address  to  her  majesty,  praying  her  to  return  to 
France.  His  proposition  was  adopted  by  tlie 
house  in  a  manner  most  flattering  to  liimself ; 
but,  as  is  well  known,  it  proved  unsuccessful. 

During  his  last  moments,  he  was  supported  by 
the  consolations  of  religion.  The  principles 
which  had  guided  his  public  conduct,  sustained 
him  throughout  a  protracted  illness,  and  shed  a 
mild  and  christian   lustre  over  the  closing  scenes 


WILLIAM    WILBF.RFORCE.  79 

of  his  life.  Amidst  his  increasing  infirmities, 
the  "inward  man"  was  renewed  day  by  day. 
So  abundant  were  his  consolations,  that  he  him- 
self remarked,  "  The  last  year  has  been  the 
happiest  of  my  life."  A  short  time  before  his 
decease,  a  friend  having  said,  on  his  recovery 
from  a  severe  attack,  "  I  hope,  sir,  you  will  feel 
better  soon,"  he  replied,  "lam  quite  prepared 
for  the  worst.  "  He  then  asked  for  "  Baxter's 
Dying  Thoughts,"  and  read  them.  In  the  course 
of  the  last  month  of  his  life,  a  friend  was  speak- 
ing to  him  of  his  prospect  of  heaven,  when  he 
observed,  "As  for  me,  I  have  nothing  to  say  but 
the  publican's  plea,  *  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner.'  "  On  tlie  Friday  preceding  his  death, 
hopes  were  entertained  by  his  sorrowing  rela- 
tives, that  lie  might  yet  be  spared  a  little  longer  ; 
but  more  threatening  symptoms  appeared  on 
Saturday,  and,  on  the  IMonday  following,  July 
29th,  this  inestimable  man  departed  from  the 
scene  of  his  labors,  to  enter  into  the  joy  of  his 
Lord. 

His  funeral  was  intended  to  be  strictly  private; 
but  the  following  requisition,  equally  honorable 
to  Mr.  Wilberforce  and  to  the  age  in  which  he 
lived,  induced  his  family  to  alter  their  arrange- 
ments : 


80  MEMOIU    OF 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  members  of  both  Houst's  of 
Parliament,  being  anxious,  upon  pubhc  grounds,  to  show 
respect  for  the  memory  of  the  late  Wili-iam  Wilbkk- 
FORCE,  and  being  also  satisfied  that  public  honors  can 
never  be  more  fitly  bestowed  than  upon  such  benefactors 
of  mankind,  earnestly  request  that  he  may  be  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  and  that  we,  and  those  who  agree 
with  us  in  sentiment,  may  have  permission  to  attend  his 
funeral." 

To  this  requisition  were  affixed  the  signatures 
— William  Frederick,  (Duke  of  Gloucester,) 
Brougham,  Eidon,  Lansdowne,  Wellesley,  Grey, 
W,  Cantuar,  (Archbishop  of  Canterbury,)  Ripon, 
Wellington,  Ilarrowby,  and  of  twenty-seven 
other  peers,  and  those  of  upwards  of  ninety 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons;  and  this 
on  a  short  notice,  and  at  so  late  a  period  of  tlie 
session. 

The  funeral  took  place  in  the  manner  thus 
proposed,  on  Saturday,  August  3.  "  The  peers, 
amounting  to  a  considerable  number,  all  dressed 
in  deep  black,  having  put  on  scarves  and  hat 
bands,  proceeded  from  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  of 
the  House  of  Lords  into  the  Abbey,  entering  at 
the  Poets'  Corner  ;  while  the  members  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  numbering  between  one 
and  two  hundred,  in  full  mourning,  proceeded 
two  abreast  to  the  west  door  of  the  Abbey,  by 


^\n.T.T.\M   \Vi!,i5Kr:roiict;.  81' 

which  they  entered.  It  \v;if^  a  proud  sight,  to  see 
the  royalty,  the  high  Ftnl;on,the  rank  and  greatest 
talent  of  the  country,  become  the?  pa'1-bearers  of 
;t  virtuous  citizen  ;  which  was  at  once  a  compli- 
i:;cnt  to  the  memory  of  tlie  man,  a  credit  to 
their  own  hearts  and  understandings,  and  an 
h.onor  ofwliich  the  people  of  this  great  country 
may  proudly  boast  to  other  nations.  The  grave 
was  formed  close  to  the  tombs  of  Canning,  Fox 
and  Pitt;  and  while  the  most  solemn  part  of  the 
funeral  service  was  read,  their  Royal  Highnesses 
the  Dukes  of  Sussex  and  Gloucester,  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
the  Bishop  of  Chichester,  and  the  various  other 
Bishops,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  other  pall- 
bearers, the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  Lord  Ross- 
lyn,  Lord  Althorp,  Lord  Auckland,  &c.  formed 
a  circle  round  the  grave." 

The  general  bias  of  his  politics  was  towards 
the  tories ;  but  he  was  perfectly  free  from  that 
servile  attachment  to  ];arty  which  is  one  of  tlie 
characteristics  of  a  weak  or  unprincipled  mind. 
It  is  ]iroltable  that  his  early  actjuaintance  with 
Vv'illiani  Pitt  influenced  his  political  career.  The 
partiality  of  friendship  induces  even  the  most 
liberal  and   independent  to  regard  with  a  favora- 


82  MEMOIR    OF 

ble  eye  the  opinions  and  the  course  of  an  early 
associate.  Though  the  intimate  friend  of  the 
minister,  he  never  solicited  or  accepted  place  or 
honor ;  and  the  only  personal  favor  he  ever 
asked,  is  said  to  have  been  for  the  entree  through 
the  park,  in  driving  to  the  house  ;  which  he 
declined,  on  finding  that  importance  was  at- 
tached to  the  boon. 

On  his  retirement  from  parliament  in  18"25,  he 
had  been  a  member  of  the  house  for  forty-five 
years,  during  part  of  which  time  his  influence 
had  been  greater  than  that  of  any  other  person 
not  possessed  of  office.  It  is  said  that  forty 
members  were  influenced  by  his  speech  on  Lord 
Melville's  prosecution,  when  he  pronounced  the 
conduct  of  that  nobleman  a  fit  subject  for  cen- 
sure. He  possessed  in  a  very  high  degree  some 
of  the  most  important  attributes  of  popular  ora- 
tory, and  his  voice  was  so  sweetly  modulated, 
that  he  was  at  one  time  called  "  the  nightingale 
of  the  house." 

The  private  character  of  Mr.  Wilberforcc  was 
as  amiable  as  his  public  course  was  upright.  It 
has  not  uiifrecjueutly  been  found,  that  the  bustle 
and  excitement  of  a  public  life  unfit  men  for  tlie 
more  calm  and  retired  duties  of  the  domestic 
circle.     The  ambitious  statesman   often  regards 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  83 

his  home  with  indifference.  Its  joys  are  too 
tame  to  awaken  his  sensibilities,  or  to  induce 
him  to  occupy  much  time  in  their  cultivation. 
But  it  was  far  otherwise  with  Mr.  Wilberforce. 
He  repaired  from  the  senate  to  his  house  with 
evident  delight,  and  borrowed  happiness  from  the 
joy  his  presence  imparted.  He  partook  of  the 
pleasures  of  domestic  life  with  a  zest  of  which 
most  politicians  are  destitute.  "  He  was  ex- 
tremely fond,"  says  a  relative,  "of  children,  and 
would  enter  into  their  gambols  with  the  gaiety  of 
a  school-boy.  We  need  scarcely  add,  that  he 
was  the  idol  of  his  own.  Their  veneration,  their 
filial  attachment,  bordered  on  enthusiasm  ;  their 
hourly  attendance  on  his  wants  resembled  the 
maternal  anxiety  of  a  widowed  parent  for  an 
only  child.  Mr.  Wilberforce  was  particularly 
happy  in  conversation  :  his  memory  was  richly 
stored  with  classical  allusions  ;  a  natural  poetry 
of  mind  constantly  displayed  itself ;  a  melodious 
cadence  marked  every  thought  and  every  expres- 
sion of  the  thought.  He  was  seldom  impas- 
sioned ;  not  often  energetic  ;  but  his  tones  were 
mellifluous  and  persuasive,  exactly  according 
with  the  sentiment  they  conveyed." 

His  attachment  to  the  established  church  was 
well  known,  and  greatly  contributed  to  the  favor- 


84  MKJIOIII    UK 

able  reception  of  his  "  Practicil  View  "  in  the 
higher  chi.'^se.s  of  society.  Somctinies,  however, 
he  attended  at  (li^^se^ting  places  of  worship  ; 
and,  on  one  occasion,  partook  of  the  Lord's 
supper  witli  non-conforming  christians.  A  gen- 
tleman having  expressed  some  doubt  of  this  cir- 
cumstance, and  Mr.  Wilberforce  being  asked  if 
the  report  was  correct,  replied,  in  a  tone  which 
indicated  surprise,  "  Yes,  my  dear  ;  is  it  not  the 
church  of  God?"  So  com[)leiely  free  was  he 
fi'om  the  narrowness  and  intolerance  of  the  par- 
tisan. 

He  was  eminently  a  man  of  prayer.  His 
intercourse  with  God  was  habitual,  and  hence 
resulted  the  consistency  of  his  life.  "Persons  of 
the  highest  distinction,"  says  tlie  Rev.  Joseph 
Brown,  in  his  funeral  sermon,  "  were  frequently 
at  his  breakfast-table,  but  he  never  made  his 
appearance  till  he  had  concluded  his  own  medi- 
tations, reading  his  bible,  and  prayer  ;  always 
securing,  as  it  were,  to  God,  or  railier  to  his  own 
soul,  I  believe,  the  first  hour  of  the  morning. 
Whoever  surrounded  his  breakfast-table,  however 
distinguished  tlie  individuals,  they  were  invited 
to  join  the  family  circle  in  family  prayer.  In 
reference  to  his  own  soul,  I  am  ini'ornied,  he  set 
apart  days,  or  a  part  of  thcui,   on  which  he  had 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE.  85 

received  particular  mercies,  for  especial  prayer. 
"  Now,"  would  he  sometimes  say  to  those  attend- 
ing him,  "  I  shall  not  want  you  for  some  time." 
Those  who  were  accustomed  to  his  habits  knew 
that  he  devoted  those  hours  to  meditation,  and 
reading,  and  prayer.  When  a  clergyman,  who 
had  been  visiting,  was  about  to  leave,  "  Stop," 
said  Mr.  Wilberforce,  "  T  must  assemble  my  chil- 
dren." He  did  so.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  before 
you  go,  you  must  pray  with  them." 

"  One  beautiful  point  of  his  character  I  must 
just  notice  :  not  only  did  he  pray  in  his  closet, 
and  with  his  family,  but  if  his  domestics  were 
ill,  at  their  bed-side — there  was  their  valued 
master  praying  with  them — praying  for  them." 

Mr.  Scott  also,  in  his  funeral  sermon,  bears  a 
similar  testimony  to  the  religious  character  Mr. 
Wilberforce  maintained  in  his  family.  "  The  fol- 
lowing incident,"  he  says,  "  came  almost  within 
my  own  knowledge  : — A  minister  of  state  called 
upon  him  on  some  public  business  on  a  Sunday: 
he  at  once  excused  himself,  saying,  he  would 
wait  upon  his  lordship  at  any  hour  he  would  fix 
the  next  day,  but  he  was  then  going  to  church! 
And  this  was  after  he  had  already  attended  the 
morning  service.  It  was  his  maxim,  that  every 
man  should  be  the  priest  of  his  own  household  : 


8G  MEMOIR    OF 

and  this  character  he  would  never  resign,  tliough 
he  might  from  time  to  time  delegate  it  to  others. 
Hence,  even  when  he  had  clergymen  present, 
of  whose  assistance  he  would  at  other  times 
gladly  avail  himself,  he  would  frequently  con- 
duct the  daily  religious  services  iti  person.  And 
here  we  are  assured,  '  the  fulness  and  rich- 
ness of  his  expositions  of  scripture,  and  the 
fervor  of  his  supplications,  were  such  as  none 
can  forget  who  ever  were  present  at  them.'  And 
then  the  full  effect  would  be  given  to  all  this 
among  the  members  of  his  household,  by  the 
tenderness  and  consideration  which  he  ever 
showed  for  them.  '  If  any  of  his  domestics,' 
said  one  frequently  resident  under  his  roof,  and 
on  the  most  familiar  terms — '  If  any  of  his  do- 
mestics show  a  ruffled  temper,  or  fall  into  mis- 
conduct, the  case  is  met  rather  with  pity  than 
with  resentment,  and  anxiety  is  shown  to  restore 
the  offender,  like  a  sick  member,  in  the  spirit  of 
meekness.'  This  was  the  rule  of  his  family. 
Though  much  conversant  with  the  world,  he 
entered  into  no  compromise  with  it  as  to  the 
way  of  spending  his  time,  or  countenancing  its 
vain  amusements.  He  had  no  leisure,  and, 
what  is  the  great  thing  to  be  aimed  at,  he  had 
no  heart,  for  such  frivolities;    but  quite  the  con- 


WUXIAM    WILBERFORCE.  87 

trary.  Indeed,  I  have  observed,  however  others 
may  plead  for  such  indulgences,  that  those  who 
have  been  previously  most  acquainted  with  them, 
and  best  know  their  effects,  on  beconiing  de- 
cidedly religious,  most  strictly  renounce  them, 
and  protest  most  strongly  against  them.  Finally, 
the  spirituality  of  his  mind  under  the  press  of 
public  business,  and  amid  the  succession  of  per- 
sons who  crowded  upon  them,  was  truly  sur- 
prising. He  seemed  always  ready  for  devotional 
exercises,  and  for  religious  conversation,  in  which 
the  heart  evidently  bore  as  large  a  share  as  the 
understanding.  And  at  church  he  ever  appeared 
to  be  one  of  the  most  devout  and  fervent  of 
worshippers." 

His  devotional  engagements  gave  energy  to 
his  public  life.  He  came  forth  from  his  closet 
strengthened  with  might  in  his  inner  man,  and 
was  thereby  enabled  to  achieve  what  would  have 
overwhelmed  many  other  minds.  It  was  his 
own  conviction,  tiiat  he  never  could  have  sus- 
tained the  labor  and  stretch  of  intellect  required 
in  his  early  political  life,  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  rest  of  his  sabbath  ;  and  that  he  could  name 
several  of  his  contemporaries  who  had  experi- 
enced a  premature  death,  or  fallen  into  the  more 


88  MEMOIR    OF 

dreadful  catastrophe  of  insanity  and  suicide,  in 
consequence  of  its  neglect. 

Humility  was  by  no  means  one  of  the  least 
prominent  features  of  his  character.  "  Walking 
in  the  Isle  of  Wight,"  says  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Brown,  "a  person  begging  approached  him, 
using  the  roost  flattering  language.  '  Do  not 
so,'  said  Mr.  Wilberforce  to  the  beggar  ;  '  I  am 
only  a  poor  sinner  like  yourself  " 

"  Of  his  extreme  humility,  I  experienced  an 
instance  which  at  once  astonished  and  embar- 
rassed me.  One  day,  in  conversation,  Mr.  Wil- 
berforce kindly  gave  me  some  advice.  I  expressed 
my  thanks,  and  said  how  much  I  should  feel 
indebted,  if,  in  conversation  or  correspondence, 
he  would  at  all  times  be  my  counsellor,  and,  if 
necessary,  correct  me,  and  point  out  my  faults. 
He  suddenly  stopped,  (for  we  were  walking 
together,)  and  replied,  '  I  will ; — but  you  must 
promise  me  one  thing.'  '  Witli  pleasure,'  I 
answered,  little  thinking  what  it  was.  'Well, 
then,'  continued  Mr.  WiU)orf()rce,  'in  all  your 
conversation  and  correspondence  with  me,  be 
candid  and  open,  and  point  out  niy  faults.'  " 

Such  was  the  man  whom  princes,  nobles,  and 
senators  have  deli<ihted    to   honor.     All    classes 


WIl.MAM    WILBERlORrE.  89 

held  him  in  veneration.  When  the  House  of 
Commons,  some  years  since,  was  engaged  in  an 
investigation  that  deeply  interested  George  the 
Third,  the  king  inquired,  from  one  who  had  just 
left  the  house,  "  Who  was  under  examination  1" 
and  being  told,  he  asked,  "Who  were  taking 
notes?"  it  was  answered,  "Mr.  Wilberforce  is 
very  busy  taking  notes."  "Ah,"  replied  his 
majesty,  "  he  is  a  good  man — he  is  a  good  man  ; 
I  wish  they  all  were  like  him."  His  memory 
will  long  be  embalmed  in  the  grateful  recollec- 
tion of  his  species;  and  the  value  of  the  services 
he  has  rendered  to  the  cause  of  humanity,  will 
be  seen  in  the  future  freedom,  intelligence,  and 
virtue  of  the  negro  population. 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  account  of  the  last  honors  ren- 
liered  to  the  remains  of  Wilberforce,  is  taken  from 
a  London  paper.  It  will  be  considered  an  appro- 
priate sequel  to  the  history  of  his  life  and  services, 
contained  in  the  preceding  pages  of  this  volume. 


FUNERAL  OF  MR.  WILBERFORCE. 

The  funeral  of  that  most  excellent  man,  Mr.  Wilber- 
force, eminent  through  the  course  of  his  long  life  for  liis 
public  and  private  virtues,  for  his  sterling  patriotism, 
his  christian  piety,  and  his  universal  feeling  of  philan- 
thropy, took  place  on  Saturday.  It  was  at  first  intended, 
in  conformity  to  the  wish  of  the  deceased,  to  conduct 
his  funeral  with  the  utmost  privacy,  and  to  inter  his 
remains  in  Newington  church  yard ;  but  a  very  con- 
fiiderable  number  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of 
the  Houses  of  Peers  and  Commons,  anxious  to  pay  a 
last  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  a  man  who, 
through  a  long  series  of  years,  had  been  so  honorably 
distinguished  in  the  British  senate,  prevailed  on  his  sons 
and  immediate  friends  to  allow  the  funeral  to  be  a  public 


92  APPENDIX. 

one,  and  the  place  of  interment  to  be  Westminster 
Abbey,  that  solemn  habitation  of  "  the  departed  great ;'' 
thus  conferring  the  highest  possible  honor  on  the  memory 
of  Mr.  Wilberforce,  and  giving  to  the  world  (for  of  Mr. 
Wilberforce  it  may  be  said,  that  he  was  not  the  property 
of  a  nook,  but  of  the  world)  an  exalted  testimony  of  the 
country,  and  of  the  friendship  which  his  mild  manners 
and  noble  qualities  had  won  him. 

At  about  half  past  twelve  o'clock,  the  Order  of  the 
Procession  having  been  arranged,  the  cotfin  containing 
the  remains  of  the  deceased  was  placed  in  the  hearse, 
and  the  procession  began  to  move  in  the  following 
order  : 

Horsemen,  two  and  two  abreast,  wearing  blacU  scarves  and  hat  Ijands, 
and  preceded  by  Mr.  Birch,  the  Family  Undertukir. 

•i  -  Two  Mutes  abreast.  o  O 

<  =  =  = 

^■^  IMume  of  Feathcrn.  g- " 

Q  S  1'wo  Mutes  abreast.  ^  ^ 

Attendants.  Horsemen,  two  and  two  abreast.         Attendants. 

Hearse,  (bearin"  the  Coffin.)  ,, 

S  Richly  studded  with  blacl(  plumes,  and  .§ 

"s  5  Drawn  by  six  jet  horses,  richly  o  s_ 

^  Caparisoni'd,  with  black  velvet  trappings,  o 

"*  And  adorned  with  nodding  i)Iumes. 

Eight  Mournin''  Coaches, 
■  ,  "^ 

a  The  first  bearing  the  Deceased's  ?ons  S 

"g  As  Chief  Mourners  ;  g_ 

—  The  others  containiiijr  the  Mourners.  3 


< 


Noblemen  and  Gentlemen's  Carria 


To  the  number  of  nearly  fifty,  being  chiefly  those  of  the  members  of 
both  Houses  of  Parliament. 

In  this  manner  the  procession  moved  slowly  from 
Cadogan  place  towards  Westminster  Abbey,  forming  a 
very  lengthened  train,  accompanied  by  immense  crowds 


APPENDIX.  93 

of  people,  who  flanked  it  in  moving  columns,  on  either 
side;  and  a  little  after  one  o'clock,  the  signal  that  it  was 
approaching  the  Abbey  was  given  by  Mr.  Lee,  the  High 
Constable  of  Westminster,  to  the  Peers  and  Commoners, 
who  had  assembled  in  their  relative  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment for  the  purpose  of  following  tiie  body  in  procession 
through  the  aisles  of  the  Abbey.  The  Peers,  amounting 
to  a  considerable  number,  all  dressed  in  deep  black, 
having  put  on  scarves  and  hat  bands,  proceeded  from  the 
Jerusalem  Chamber  of  the  House  of  Lords  into  the 
Abbey,  entering  at  Poets'  Corner ;  while  the  members 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  numbering  between  one  and 
two  hundred,  in  full  mourning,  proceeded  two  abreast  to 
the  west  door  of  the  Abbey,  by  which  they  entered. 

The  cofRn,  at  this  period,  having  arrived  at  the  west- 
ern door,  was  moved  from  the  hearse  and  placed  on  the 
shoulders  of  six  men,  the  pall  of  rich  black  velvet  with  a 
deep  border  of  white  satin,  having  been  thrown  over  it. 
When  inside  the  door  the  bearers  were  ordered  to  halt ; 
it  was  here  a  proud  sight  to  see  the  royalty,  the  high 
station,  rank  and  greatest  talent  of  the  country,  become 
the  pall  bearers  of  a  virtuous  citizen,  which  was  at  once 
a  compliment  to  the  memory  of  the  man,  a  credit  to 
their  own  hearts  and  understandings,  and  an  honor  of 
which  the  people  of  this  great  country  may  proudly 
boast  to  other  nations. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  distinguished  indi- 
viduals who  supported  the  pall: — The  Lord  Ciiancellor, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  ]>ord  Bcxley,  and 
the  Marquis  of  Westminster,  on  the  one  side  ;  the  Right 
Honorable   Charles  Grant,  Sir  Robert  Inglis,  Mr.   W. 


94  AITENDIX. 

Smith  (as  we  are  informed.)  and  his  Ro_val  Higliness  the 
Duiie  of  Gloucester,  on  the  other.  His  lloyal  Highness 
wa.s  t!ie  last  on  the  extreme  riglit,  it  being  ;i  rule,  accord- 
ing to  the  etiquette  of  sucli  occasioii<!,  for  royalty  to  be 
last  among  tlie  prill  be^irers  :  tiie  Lord  Cliancellor  was 
first  on  the  extreme  left. 

A  solemn  stillness  now  prevailed,  amid  which  the 
order  of  the  procession  through  tiie  aisles  was  formed, 
and  the  sight  was  altogether  a  most  impressive  one. 
The  King's  Boys,  in  their  uniforms,  and  the  Westminster 
School  Boys,  in  their  white  surplices,  two  and  two 
abreast,  formed  the  van  of  the  procession.  The  Abbey 
Choristers,  robed  in  their  robes  of  while  and  scarlet, 
together  with  the  Choristers  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
Whitehall  Chapel,  and  the  various  o"her  important 
places  of  public  worship  throughout  the  metropolis,  next 
followed  ;  then  followed  the  Peers,  at  the  head  of  whom 
was  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Sus-ex,  and  his 
Grace  the  Duke  of  Wellinirton,  both  in  deep  black,  and 
exhibiting  a  star  on  the  left  breast ;  next  in  order  were 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  Bishop  of  (Chichester, 
and  various  other  Bishops  ;  after  them  followed  the  Dean 
and  Chapter  of  Westminster,  then  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hol- 
combe,  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  ]>akins  ;  ne.xt  to 
them  the  colHn  and  distinguished  j)ail  bearers  ;  and 
lastly,  the  rne:iib:^rs  of  tlie  House  of  Commons,  two 
and  two  abreast.  D^iring  all  tliis  time,  the  Abbey  bell 
tolled  slowly  and  solemnly  :  and  the  procession  having 
been  an  ano^ed.  the  si<;niil  to  ad  vnnce  was  given.  'Ihe 
organ  here  commenced  its  melanciioly  and  devotional 
funeral  notes,  the  Choristers  chiming  in  with  a  sweetnes.s 


Al'PENDIX.  95 

and  solemnity  of  voice,  producing,  as  tlie  sounds  trav- 
elled from  aisle  to  aisle,  the  deepest  feeling  tiiat  the 
presence  of  man's  mortality  and  immortality  can  inspire. 
The  Choristers,  as  the  procession  moved  towards  the 
north  trinsept  of  the  Abbey,  where  the  grave  was 
formed,  close  to  the  tombs  of  Canning,  Fox  and  Pitt, 
chanteil  the  funeral  dirge  composed  by  Croft.  Having 
arrived  at  the  grave,  the  coffin  was  lowered  into  it,  and 
the  funeral  service  was  most  impressively  read  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Holcombe,  the  Choristers,  King's  Boys,  &,c. 
chanting  in  occasion.iliy,  with  the  accompaniment  of 
the  organ.  During  this  most  solemn  part  of  the  service, 
their  Ro3'al  Highnesses  the  Dukes  of  Sussex  and  Glou- 
cester, the  Duke  of  Wellington,  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, the  Bishop  of  Chichester,  and  the  various  other 
Bishops,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  the  other  Pall  Bearers,  the  Marquis  of 
Lansdowne,Lord  Rosslyn,  Lord  Althorp,  Lord  Auckland, 
&c.  formed  a  circle  around  the  gjrave. 

Among  the  most  distinguished  Commoners  present, 
besides  those  already  mentioned,  we  observed  Sir  James 
Giaiiam,  Sir  Robert  Peel,  Lord  iVlorpeth,  Mr.  Fowel 
Buxton,  Dr.  Lusliington,  Mr.  Stanley,  Mr.  Lyttleton, 
Sir  Robert  Grant,  Mr.  Spring  Rice,  the  Messrs.  Attwood, 
Messrs.  James  and  Henry  Grattan,  Mr.  Tynte,  Mr. 
Carew  O'Dwyer,  itc.  &c. 

Besides  the  above,  the  .-Xbbcy  was  crowded  by  persons 
of  distinction,  among  whom  were  many  ladies. 

After  the  funeral  service  was  over,  the  numerous  per- 
sons pressed  eagerly  towards  the  grave,  to  get  a  sight  of 
the  coffin,  which  was  covered  with   rich  black  velvet, 


96  APPENDIX. 

and  ornamented  with  gilt  moulding,  heading,  &c.  In 
the  centre  of  the  lid  was  a  splendid  brass  plate  of  con- 
siderable dimensions,  with  the  following  simple  inscrip- 
tion : 

"  WILLIAM   WrLBERFORCE,  Esq. 

Born  24th  of  August,  1759  ; 

Died  29tli  of  July,  1833. 

Thus  terminated  the  mortal  career  of  as  pure  and 
virtuous  a  public  man  as  ever  lived — of  "  a  man  whom 
(in  the  words  of  Ben  Johnson)  no  sordid  hope  of  gain,  or 
frosty  apprehension  of  danger,  could  make  a  parasite  to 
time,  or  place,  or  opinion." 

Mr.  Wilberforce's  jjublic  life  forms  one  of  the  bright- 
est pages  in  the  annals  of  this  country,  so  long  renowned 
among  the  nations  of  tiie  earth.  By  his  exertions  in 
the  Senate,  the  heart  of  the  nation  was  first  impressed 
with  the  horror  and  degradation  of  its  long-cherished 
traffic  in  human  beings.  His  glowing  eloquence  inspired 
in  olhers  the  feelings  of  humanity  in  which  it  had  its 
source,  and  he  had  the  glor}'  of  witnessing  the  triuniph 
of  that  holy  cause  to  which  he  had  devoted  all  the  ener- 
gies of  his  gifted  mind,  in  the  deliverance  of  his  country 
from  the  abomination  of  the  slave  trade — a  consumma- 
tion well  characterized  by  one  of  his  ablest  coadjutors  as 
"  the  saving  of  the  soul  of  the  nation."  A  delicate 
constitution  compelled  him  to  retire  from  parliament  and 
public  life  some  years  ago,  which  deprived  the  cause  of 
humanity  ol  his  personal  e.xcrtions  in  tlie  total  extinc- 
tion of  slavery  ;  but  the  feelings  he  mainly  contributed 
to  ins])ire  can  never  die  ;  and  llie  people  of  this  country, 
while   they  lionor    the  name  of  Wilberforce,   will   feel 


APPENDIX.  97 

their  own  highest  honor  in  imitating  the  conduct  of  him 
whose  benevolence,  founded  on  the  sincerest  piety, 
regarded  the  whole  human  race  as  friends  and  brothers. 

The  funeral  ceremony  did  not  terminate  before  three 
o'clock.  We  may  here  mention  that  we  saw  two  gentle- 
men of  color  in  the  procession,  who  appeared  to  feel  a 
deep  interest  in  the  solemnity  of  the  passing  scene. 


As  many  of  the  readers  of  the  first  edition  of  this 
memoir  have  expressed  their  regret  at  the  omission, 
by  the  author,  of  the  celebrated  "Protest,"  first  com- 
municated to  the  London  Christian  Advocate  by 
Mr.  Garrison,  in  July,  1833,  we  have  concluded  to 
insert  it  in  this  place.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  name 
of  Wilberforce  stands  at  the  head  of  its  distinguished 
sub^^^cribers.  The  affixing  it  was  his  last  public 
effort  in  the  African  cause,  having  occurred  a  few 
weeks  i)revious  to  his  decease. 

PROTEST. 

We,  the  undersigned,  having  observed  with  regret 
tliat  the  "American  Colonization  Society"  appears  to 
be  gaining  some  adherents  in  this  country,  are  desirous 
to  express  our  opinions  respecting  it. 

Our  motives  and  excuse  for  thus  coming  forward  are 
the  claims  which  the  Society  has  put  forth  to  anti-sla- 
ccnj  support.     These  claims  are,  in  our  opinion,  wholly 


98  AI'I'KMJIX. 

groundless;  and  we  feol  bound  to  afTlrni  tliat  our  delibe- 
rate judgment  and  conviction  are,  that  the  professions 
niiide  by  the  Colonization  Society  of  promoting  the  abo- 
lition of  slavery,  are  altogether  delutiive. 

As  far  as  the  mere  colony  of  Liberia  is  concerned,  it 
has,  no  doubt,  the  advantarres  of  other  trading  establish- 
ments. In  this  sense,  it  is  beneficial  both  to  America 
and  to  Africa;  and  we  cordially  wish  it  well.  We  can- 
not, however,  refrain  from  expressing  our  strong  opinion 
that  it  is  a  settlement  of  which  the  United  States  ought 
to  bear  the  whole  cost.  AVe  never  required  of  tiiat 
country  to  assist  us  in  Sierra  Leone.  We  are  enor- 
mously burdened  by  our  own  connection  with  slavery ; 
and  we  do  maintain  that  we  ought  not  to  be  called  on  to 
contribute  to  the  expenses  of  a  colony  which,  though 
no  doubt  comprising  some  advantages,  was  formed 
chitfly  to  indulge  the  prejudices  of  American  slave- 
holders, and  which  is  regarded  with  aversion  by  the 
colored  population  of  the  United  States. 

With  regard  to  the  extinction  of  the  slave-trade,  we 
apprehend  that  Liberia,  however  good  the  intentions  of 
its  supporters,  will  be  able  to  do  little  or  nothing  towards 
it,  except  on  the  limited  extent  of  its  own  territories. 
The  only  effectual  death-blow  to  that  accursed  traffic 
will  be  the  destruction  of  slavery  throughout  the  world. 
To  the  destruction  of  slavery  throughout  the  world,  we 
are  compelled  to  say  that  we  believe  the  Colonization 
Society  to  he  an  obsLructiim. 

Our  objections  to  it  are  briefly  these  : — While  we 
believe  its  pretexts  to  be  delusive,  we  are  convinced 
that  its  rral  effects  are  of  the  most  dangerous  natuie. 
It  takes  its  root  from  a  cruel  prejudice  and  alienation  in 


APPENDIX,  99 

the  whites  of  America  against  tho  colored  people,  slave 
or  free.  This  being  its  source,  the  effects  are  what 
might  be  expected — that  it  fosters  and  increases  the 
spirit  of  caste,  already  so  unhappily  predominant — 
tliat  it  widens  the  breach  between  the  two  races,  exposes 
the  colored  people  to  great  practical  persecution,  in 
order  to  force  them  to  emigrate,  and  finally,  is  calcu- 
lated to  swallow  up  and  divert  that  feeling  which 
America,  as  a'^christian  and  a  free  country,  cannot  but 
entertain,  that  slavery  'is  alike  incompatible  with  the 
law  of  God  and  with  the  well-being  of  man,  whether  of 
the  enslaver  or  the  enslaved. 

On  these  grounds,  therefore,  and  while  we  acknow- 
ledge the  colony  of  Liberia,  or  any  other  colony  on  the 
coast  of  Africa,  to  be  in  itself  a  good  thing,  we  must  be 
understood  utterly  to  repudiate  the  principles  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society.  The  Society  is,  in  our 
estimation,  not  deserving  of  the  countenance  of  the 
British  public.  ■'    ■     ■ 

WxM./^WlLBERFORCE, 

Wm.  Smith, 
Zachary  Macaclay, 
William  Evans,  M.  P. 
Samuel   Gurney, 
George  Stephen, 
Slifield, 

S.    LuSHINGTON,    ]\I.   p. 

Thos.  F.  Bdxton,  M.  p. 
James  Cropper, 
William  Allen, 
Dan.  OConnel,  M.  P. 

London,  July.  1833. 


100  APPENDIX. 


ANECDOTE  OF  MR,  VVILBERFORCE. 

A  few  years  ago,  the  late  Mr.  Wilberforce  was  en- 
gaged, at  the  committee  of  the  African  Institution,  in  a 
discussion  with  the  present  Chancellor,  and  some  other 
members,  upon  a  point  that  involved  the  necessity  of  a 
conference  with  the  Minister.  The  duly  of  calling  upon 
him  was,  of  course,  imposed  on  Mr.  Wilberforce;  but  it 
was  a  habit  which  he  had  acquired  by  a  constant  inter- 
ruption of  visiters,  to  defer  all  matters  not  immediately 
pressing,  to  a  leisure  hour  that  seldom  arrived.  Brough- 
am, aware  of  this,  urged  upon  him  to  seek  the  interview 
without  delay ;  the  committee  being  assembled  in  the 
adjoining  street  to  the  official  residence.  Mr.  Wilber- 
force, however,  had  already  become  entangled  in  con- 
versation with  others;  and  Brougham,  finding  his  efforts 
ineffectual,  seated  himself  at  the  table,  and  hastily  wrote 
a  letter,  which  he  handed  over  to  Mr.  Wilberforce  to  sign. 
"  That,"  said  he,  "  will  settle  the  matter  witliout  more 
trouble."  But  the  veteran  senator  was  not  so  confiding 
in  the  learned  Lord's  address, as  was  expected.  He  road 
the  proposed  epistle  with  unusual  caution;  and,  return- 
ing it  to  its  author,  emphatically  quoted  the  patriarclTs 
words, — "  The  voice  is  the  voice  of  Jacob,  but  the  hand 
is  the  hand  of  Esau  !  "  A  more  felicitous  quotation,  in 
reference  to  the  political  characters  of  both  parties,  as 
well  as  to  its  immediate  application,  cannot  well  In-  con- 
ceived :  but  even  Brougham  could  not  rival  this  illus- 
trious man  in  a  pointed  yet  courti'ous  rci)ail(e. 


APPENDIX.  101 

SONNET. 

WRITTEN    BY   COTVFER    IN    1792. 

Thy  country,  Wilberforce,  with  just  disdain, 
Hears  thee  by  cruel  men  and  impious  called 
Fanatic,  for  thy  zeal  to  loose  th'  enthralled 

From  exile,  public  sale,  and  slavery's  chain. 

Friend  of  the  poor,  the  wronged,  the  fetter-galled, 

Fear  not  lest  labor  such  as  thine  be  vain. 

Thou  has  achieved  a  part ;  hast  gained  the  ear 

Of  Britain's  senate  to  thy  glorious  cause  ; 

Hope  smiles,  joy  springs;  and  though  cold  caution  pause, 
And  weave  delay,  the  better  hour  is  near 
That  shall  remunerate  thy  toils  severe, 

By  peace  for  Afric,  fenced  with  British  laws. 

Enjoy  what  thou  has  won,  esteem  and  love 

From  all  the  just  on  earth,  and  all  the  blest  above. 


DEATH  OF  WILBERFORCE. 


BY    MRS.  SKiOURNEY. 


1  heard  loud  praise  of  heroes.     But  I  saw 
The  blood-stain  on  their  tablet.     Then  I  marked 
A  torrent  rushing  from  its  mountain  height. 
Bearing  the  up-torn  laurel,  while  its  strength 
Amid  the  arid  sands  of  Vanity 


102  APPENDIX. 

Did  spend  itself — and  lo  !  a  warning  voice 
Sighed  o'er  the  Ocean  of  Eternity, 
"Behold  the  Warrior's  glory." 

History  came, 
Sublimely  soaring  on  her  wing  of  light, 
And  many  a  name  of  palatine  and  peer, 
Monarch  and  prince,  on  her  proud  scroll  she  bore, 
Blazoned  by  Fame.     But  'mid  the  sea  of  Time, 
Helmet,  and  coronet,  and  diadem. 
Rose  boastful  up  and  shone  and  disappeared. 
Like  the  white  foam-crest  on  the  tossing  wave, 
Forgotten,  while  beheld. 

I  heard  a  knell 
Toll  slow  amid  the  consecrated  aisles 
Where  slumber  England's  dead, — a  solemn  dirge 
Break  forth  amid  the  tombs  of  kings,  and  say 
That  man  was  dust.     And  then  a  nation's  tears 
Fell  down  like  rain  ;  for  it  was  meet  to  mourn. 
But  from  the  land  of  palm-trees,  where  doth  flow 
Sweet  incense  forth,  from  grove,  and  gum,  and  flower. 
Came  richer  tribute,  breathing  o'er  the  tomb 
A  prostrate  nation's  thanks. 

Yes — Afric  knelt, — 
That  mourning  mother,  and,  throughout  the  earth 
Taught  her  unfettered  children  to  repeat 
The  name  of  Wii.berforce,  and  bless  the  spot 
Made  sacred  by  his  ashes.     Yea,  the  world 
Arose  upon  her  crumbling  throne,  to  praise 
The  lofly  mind  that  never  knew  to  swerve. 
Though  holy  Truth  should  beckon  it  to  meet 
The  frown  of  the  embattled  universe. 


APPENDIX.  103 

And  so  I  bowed  me  down  in  this  far  nook 
Of  tlie  far  West,  and  proudly  traced  the  name 
Of  Wii.BERroRCE  upon  my  country's  scroll, 
To  be  her  guide  as  she  unchained  the  slave, 
And  the  bright  model  of  her  sons,  who  seek 
True  glory.     And,  from  every  village  haunt 
And  school,  where  rustic  Science  quaintly  reigns, 
I  called  the  little  ones,  and  forth  they  came, 
To  hear  of  Afric's  champion,  and  to  bless 
Tlie  firm  in  purpose,  and  the  full  of  days. 


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JANE  BAILEY,  or  Recollections  of  a  Home  Missionary. 
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"  The  Moral  Reformer  is,  in  my  opinion,  an  excellent  publication.  It 
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